Within professional learning communities, the processes of reflection, critique and dialogue, or critical transformative dialogues (Trede, 2008) are crucial for the maintenance and improvement of professional practice both for individuals and collectively (Friend & Cooke, 2010). This paper focuses on the nature of these dialogues through the perspectives of first year pre-service teachers in a teacher education course in regional Australia and on the challenges experienced when engaging in reflection and critique with peers, as they participated in a program focused on the development of core practices of teaching (Grossman & McDonald, 2008). Survey and interview data were collected at three points: early in their first session of study; at the end of their first session, and after they had experienced a school based practicum placement (second session). Their responses demonstrated a developing understanding of the importance of engaging in ongoing critical dialogue and an appreciation of the value that focused feedback has on developing their skills, while engaged in what Ball and Forzani (2009) describe as the “unnatural work” of teaching. The paper argues for teacher education to provide communicative spaces for student teachers to engage in focused feedback and reflection from the earliest stages of their professional learning.