This communication presents one of the first actions undertaken for the investigation: Living and learning with new literacies in and outside school: contributions for reducing school drop-out, exclusion and abandonment among youth (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. EDU2011-24122). Before starting our fieldwork, our research team has engaged in a reflexive activity (Macbeth, 2001), recuperating and sharing our stories about our own experiences with learning in and outside school. We believe this action is an important step to undertake at the beginning of a narrative inquiry, one that obliges us to position ourselves and make our expectations explicit.
Our research group (Contemporary Subjectivities and Educational Environments – ESBRINA) has been engaged in carrying out educational research with the design of researching with young people (Hernández, 2011a, 2011b) for the last 6 years. This methodological position shifts the hierarchy between investigator and research subject, opening the research process to new voices and perspectives. As we have developed this line of research, we have come to understand the importance of not only inquiring about the experiences of those who collaborate in our research, but also, of the value of exploring our own personal experiences related to the investigation. This step is partly political – we do not ask people to share stories that we ourselves are unable (or unwilling) to share – however, it is also a useful exercise that allows us to anticipate the nature of the stories and collaboration we will find when we begin our fieldwork.
Thus, in the first meeting of our research group, we asked ourselves: what happens to researchers when they study how young people learn in and outside school? What are our own experiences, and what consequence do they have in shaping our expectations of this research project? In response to these questions, each researcher then wrote a story describing their own personal experiences, connecting them to the main themes outlined in our research project. After sharing our stories, we gained a better understanding of the motivations and interests each member had in the investigation that was about to unfold, an understanding that should allow us to be more attentive to the interactions that develop in the field.
Our presentation will share the analysis and reception of these stories within our group. By bringing the narratives together we were able to reconstruct the gaze our team cast on the research topic. Being able to name and characterize this gaze has been beneficial to us in terms of defining our interests and possible oversights. 

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