The transition from student to teacher and the early years in teaching have received a great deal of attention over the last decades (Flores 2001;Flores and Day 2006; Pillen et al. 2013; Thomas and Beauchamp 2011; Thomas and Beauchamp 2007; Hong,2010; Smagorinsky, et al. 2004; Flores 2013).These studies point to the multi-perspectival and multi-dimensional process of teacher identity development which is influenced by personal, social and cognitive response as it implies an “ongoing and dynamic process which entails the making sense and (re)interpretation of one’s own values and experiences” (Flores and Day 2006, 220).

            More recently, a growing body of literature has highlighted the key role of initial teacher education (ITE) as a crucial context for developing teacher identity (Beauchamp and Thomas 2009; Timostsuk and Ugaste 2010; Schepens, et al. 2009; Flores 2011) but it also acknowledges the scarcity of research and teacher education practices, programme design and activities (Beauchamp and Thomas 2009; Schepens et al. 2009; Zimmermann, et al., 2012). Beauchamp and Thomas (2009, 186) stress that teacher education programmes seem to be “the ideal starting point for instilling not only an awareness of the need to develop an identity, but also a strong sense of the ongoing shifts that will occur in that identity”. This paper adds to existing literature as it addresses the core dimensions of teacher identity development in ITE, taking into account student teachers’ perspectives.

Data reported in this paper draw upon a broader piece of research aimed at investigating the process of professional identity development in the context of ITE. This paper addresses the following research questions: How do student teachers look at their learning in ITE? How do they look back on their experiences as students? What kinds of activities and experiences in ITE context (during the first semester) influence their journey to become teachers?

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