Teachers of any educational level just starting their professional careers, remaining in the job for the following thirty or more years, will educate children, young people and adults who will step into the 22^nd century.  If, as it seems, change in practically all spheres of society remains , or even increases in the speed of recent years, there is no doubt that the question is both current and relevant and requires attention. Within the consideration of the importance and consequences of social change lies the creativity and innovation of the research presented at this symposium.

  The need to go on learning not only throughout our lives -lifelong learning- (OECD, 1996), but also across it –wide learning- (Barnett, 2010), has been placed on the agenda for some time. Authors such as Senge, Cambron-McCabe, Lucas, Smith, Dutton (2000), have even predicted the dangers faced by individuals and institutions unable to or having serious difficulties in learning. Paradoxically, moreover, teachers of all levels and educational institutions seem to be among those encountering more difficulty in introducing fundamental and crucial change to their practice (Sarason, 1990; Fullan,  2001). It seems hard to change teachers’ conceptions about what teaching and learning mean in an ever-changing world; how the cultural experiences of children and young people evolve and what can be counted as an appropriate teaching practice (Cuban, 1993). On the other hand, we should also consider the need to understand the significance and educational consequences of current social, cultural, political, economic, and technological changes.

In this context it seems fundamental to take into account to what extent initial and in-service teacher’s professional development is providing all teaching levels with the pedagogical, social and emotional knowledge and skills not only to undertake the daily job, but also to be able to develop the flexibility, ingenuity and predisposition to go on learning from any situation. At the same time, we need to pay attention to teachers’ professional experiences in their first jobs. This leads to the growing international interest in the situations, processes, experiences, and positioning related to how teachers form and negotiate their identity; to how they learn to become teachers (Clandinin; Connelly, 1995; De Gee, 2001; Sfard; Prusak, 2005; Day; Kington, 2008; Sancho, 2011; Day, 2003; 2012).

This symposium is made up of research-based papers dealing with the constitution of professional identity of teachers. The papers presented are based on studies mainly developed under narrative and ethnographic research approaches. Biographical stories, different kinds of accounts, professional life histories, micro-ethnographies and focus groups have allowed five international research groups to go “beyond the numbers game” (Hamilton, Jenkins, King, MacDonald, Parlett, 1977) and to offer an in-depth and detailed account of the turbulence, excitement, disappointment and ambivalent emotions underpinning the teachers’ transitions from pre-service professional development to their early career years.