The purpose of this research was to gain an understanding of how adult pre-service
teachers perceive the process of becoming a teacher in the context of student teaching while
attending a career college. To gain insight into this process, interview participants were asked to
remember, or reflect on, and discuss their experiences prior to returning to college to become a
teacher, their experiences within the teacher education program, as well as, their experiences in
student teaching.
This chapter presents the findings in two sections. The first section summarizes the
stories of the individuals who participated in this study. The narratives provide a brief
description of aspects of the lives of each participant that seem relevant to understanding how he
or she makes sense of the experiences in the teacher education program. The second part of the
chapter provides a discussion of the common themes that emerged across the participants’
stories.