A longitudinal study was conducted to examine how a person's concept of learning, teaching, and self as teacher and learner changes over the years, and to understand the factors which contribute to the development of teachers. This paper presents the stories of two teachers who participated in the study--Beth who taught middle school science classes in an environment that emphasized the learning of thinking processes, and Jim who taught secondary classes for which state-mandated exams focused on the recall of specific content. The research began when the participants were teacher education juniors at Cornell University (New York) in a program committed to student reflection, and followed them through their first 3 years of teaching. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews and classroom observations over the course of the 6 year association. The stories demonstrate that by the third year of teaching, Beth and Jim present very different figures influenced by contextual factors. It is further illustrated that both, now tenured, are still committed to teaching, have thought carefully about their teaching, have structured their teaching to serve the goals operating in the systems in which they teach, and continue to have ideals toward which they are striving. (Contains approximately 20 references.) (LL)