Motivated by a critical-reflexive pedagogical process, this research aims to develop understandings about the reflections, emotions and beliefs socially constructed by me and two other teachers in relation to English teaching materials to young learners, compulsorily adopted in our working contexts. Considering our conversation, I propose the analysis of the discursive construction of emotions and teaching beliefs with the intention to understand the implications of the materials imposition. In order to do this, the theoretical concepts of Critical Applied Linguistics are adopted, in an interface with Exploratory Practice and Freire s pedagogical perspective. Narrative studies contribute to the investigation of professional experiences, from interactional and social-constructionist perspectives. Thus, guided by the qualitative-interpretative research paradigm, we held an exploratory conversation in which we shared experiences about the use of textbooks in our professional contexts, namely: public and private schools, and language courses. In addition, this research is aligned with studies on Emotions and Teaching Beliefs, intending to investigate how we interpret such experiences, in other words, how we socially construct evaluations. This study contributed to a critical reflection on the mandatory use of teaching materials and the implications of their imposition on our pedagogical practice, contributing to the quality of life in the classroom by re-signifying this practice. The results indicate that our conversation enabled us to: (i) investigate which beliefs, related to the use of textbooks, emerged in our interaction as well as their contributions to our understanding of teaching-learning process, and (ii) share (dis)alignments and power relations that permeate this compulsory adoption, illustrating emotions of dissatisfaction, discouragement, frustration, among others.