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This article explores the perception of teachers and management teams about their self-training process within the framework of a strategy implemented in the Dominican Republic. The two cases studied are part of a more general investigation on four schools, whose main objective is to understand the functioning of pedagogical groups as a formative strategy focused on the reflection on practice. The theoretical framework is centered around the educational value of the group of teachers, aspects of the leader and the dynamics of professional communities of practice. The methodology implemented was ethnographic and, therefore, based on participant observation and semi-structured interview techniques. This study had 8 informants, counting teachers and directive board members. The redirection of the methodological itinerary was an unexpected situation. The results reported coincidences in both groups regarding the implementation of the processes and agreements on training which differed from the established norms. Even within the same center, participants had different views regarding the usefulness of pedagogical groups. The participants took part in a variety of interactive activities to share experiences with an educational purpose. Regardless of their efforts, both pedagogical groups found it difficult to engage in reflective processes and reach consensus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]