In this paper, we present a theorized case study of one pre-service teacher's understanding and practices of care in teaching. We argue that the notion of care can be used as a lens through which to explore relationships between and among teachers and students, as well as the cultural, institutional, and societal contexts in which these relations exist. The paper analyzes data from a longitudinal study with one pre-service secondary teacher over the four semesters of her teacher education program as well as key participants in that program. We draw on a cultural models framework and tools of narrative inquiry to analyze the participant's changing understandings of care in teaching, focusing both on her cultural models of care, and some key dilemmas she wrestled with in her experiences as a student teacher.