ABSTRACT
Student teachers are confronted with a series of challenges in their education. They are expected to abandon a long-standing student role and move into a responsible and accountable teacher role. They are asked to focus on other people’s learning in an educational setting which is to a large extent created by themselves. They are in charge of class management and are expected to behave as leaders in the classroom. Student teachers are also expected to be able to transmit meaningfully their own subject knowledge to pupils. At the same time, they are expected to reflect critically on their own teaching and professional development. Do we really understand the complexity of this task in initial teacher education?
