This autoethnographic study explores the dilemmas faced by a teacher-researcher regarding English language teaching (ELT) practices in public schools in Turkey. Narratives were used to depict the teacher’s lived experiences and interactions within a community of practice, which gave rise to these dilemmas and shaped her transformative learning journey. The narratives illustrating the emergence of dilemmas were analysed through reflections, further supported by findings from other mixed-methods studies as well as theoretical and regulatory documents. The results indicate that the dilemmas stem from a gap between the theoretical recommendations of the new curriculum and the realities of daily ELT practices in this specific context. The study is grounded in the interpretivist research paradigm, with Wenger’s concept of “community of practice” providing the theoretical framework. Holistic content analysis was employed as the method of narrative analysis.