Learning to teach and learning to read have some similarities in the way the learning is enacted. Drawing on narratives constructed from semi-structured interviews with four Graduate Diploma of Education Primary pre-service teachers, a conceptual framework was developed. The framework included personal history, the technical skills of teaching, social aspects and reflection, to help shape a reading of the "text" of teacher education. This reading revealed that, in this small group of pre-service teachers, reading the text was informed by what was happening in their lives, their personal history and their dispositions towards learning. (Contains 1 table.)