A group of teacher educators adopted collaborative teamwork to cope with a too large teaching load. The authors reflect on the experience of working together in a critical friendship group, highlighting the role that conversation plays in this process. The experience of a collaborative approach and its impact on teaching and professional development is evaluated in terms of the teaching process and the professional development of the teachers involved. This experience contributes to understanding teaching as a complex social practice which is susceptible to improvement. (Contains 2 notes.)