Acknowledgements.- Foreword.- 1 Telling tales out of school: Sharing the stories of beginning teachers.- 2 The first months of teaching.- 3 The kids today: Alphabet generations in transition.- 4 The way we do things around here: School culture and socialisation.- 5 Teacher identity: A confidence trick?.- 6 Mentoring and induction: Nourishing or eating our young?.- 7 Professional challenges in the life of a new teacher.- 8 Teaching here and there: Substitute teaching.- 9 Butterfly brains and digital natives inhabiting schools in transition.- 10 Teacher professional standards: Induction, professional learning and certification.- 11 Lessons learnt from stories of beginning teachers.