The topic of this paper is the stories of becoming a teacher in Kazakshtan based self-study of graduate students who also work as secondary school teachers in Kazakhstan.  The research questions are (a) how do secondary teachers of Kazakhstan have become teachers? (b) what are their stories of how they have become teachers.  

Becoming a teacher is a journey with significant learning experiences.  Teachers have knowledge and understanding of their learning, and they are people who go through thoughtful processes and have skills and capacities to solve problems and make decisions (Thiessen & Anderson, 1999; Bashiruddin, 2002).  Unfortunately, teachers are viewed as shadowy statistical figures on the educational landscape in many contexts (Ball & Goodson, 1985), and similarly in the former USSR were commonly studied and portrayed via conventional quantitative methods.  Niyozov (2001) asserts, “The actual voices of the teachers and educational stakeholders are virtually fully absent” (p. 434) in the Soviet period studies.  Thus, qualitative studies that explore teachers’ lives and experiences can provide much-needed insights into the multiple realities of teaching (Bashiruddin, 2002). Teachers’ stories through qualitative narrative studies (Clandinin & Connelly, 1994) help understand and appreciate the complexities of the socio-political, economic and practical realities facing teachers.  Events and experiences, both past and present, that take place at home, school, and in the broader social sphere help to shape these teachers’ lives and careers.  Researchers and educators share the responsibility of listening to these teachers’ stories and life experiences and being sensitive to their voices in order to develop effective models for teacher development.  As Goodson and Cole (1993) argue: If we are to develop valued models of teacher development, we first need to listen closely to the teacher’s voice.  … Hence, we feel that the best way to develop sensitive models of professional development is first of all to listen to the professionals at whom the development is aimed.  (1993, p.71).  A better understanding of how teachers learn to become teachers can help teacher educators prepare more effective teacher education programs (Olson & Osborne 1991). 

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