How can ELT research be further developed? This question is approached by examining the relationship between Team Learning, a new learning practice, and Exploratory Practice, an innovative form of practitioner research. The concept of Team Learning has emerged through a reinterpretation of a traditional Team Teaching practice by Soft Systems Methodology, a soft systems approach. The paper shows how Team Learning and Exploratory Practice support and develop each other through a shared set of common principles. The discussion about the commonalities of Team Learning and Exploratory Practice aims to illustrate how similar processes could be adapted to other approaches in ELT research and revitalize the field of Applied Linguistics with new dynamic practices.