A professional identity is built through an active participation in school where ‘becoming a teacher’ is fundamental in the learning how to teach (Lave & Wenger, 1991). We sought to characterize the representations of 54 pre-service teachers’ from four teacher Portuguese education institutions (19 A; 10 B; 10 C; 15 D) on the organizational and functional aspects of their practicum training in physical education, using individual semi-structured interviews. Content analysis procedures were used to analyze data, assisted by the QSR NVivo 10. All pre-service teachers lived through a real practical teaching experience in school. The practicum’s contextual structure of institutions C and D seemed to provide a more authentic and active participation, as well as a more comprehensive understanding of what entails to be a teacher. Planning, classes, reflection and participation in the school community were the most represented tasks. They placed a special value on the relationships built with their students, mentors and subject group’s teachers. The participants of the institution D developed a greater sense of belonging than the others. Finally, a longer stay in school and the group functioning seemed to be crucial to draw up the teacher education training programs and teaching practice.