This study outlines an approach that captures the messy landscape of the learning opportunities on which teaching focused academics draw. The Activity Centred Analysis and Design framework was employed to analyse data from a focused ethnographic study of seven TFAs in a research-intensive university. The Activity Centred Analysis and Design framework revealed processes of reconfiguring structures that allow for teaching focused academics to focus on their goals (influencing their peers and being recognized as legitimate academics). This paper offers an avenue for understanding authentic practices of teaching focused academics with broader implications for research into the professional learning of academics.