This study explores the construction of teachers' identities during their pre-service training and their initial period of professional induction. Thirteen life stories of novice teachers of differing characteristics attending the Master's Degree in Secondary Education Teaching at the University of Barcelona (Spain) are analysed. Findings identify four dimensions in identity construction (attribution, projection, development and transformation) and analyze their key components. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the dialectic between the professionalizing models in the training programme and the professional communities and teachers' specific personal processes of professional self-determination. •Novice teachers describe their experiences of pre-service training and their professional induction.•Findings identify key dimensions and processes in their identity construction.•These constructions critically question the professionalizing model experienced.•A dialectic is indicated between professionalizing educational models and processes of professional self-determination.