The present work focuses on narratives by initial teachers involved in a program called Pedagogical
Residence (PR), developed in a public university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to shed some light on the
main challenges that those teachers face. The main theoretical framework is Teachers Professional
Development (TPD) as developed by Garcia (1992, 2009) and by Day (2001). The data collection
took place during meetings held at the University as part of the PR program offered to new teachers
to embrace their cause and address their concerns and their will to leave teaching for lack of support.
The narratives of experiences were analyzed using thematization (Fontoura, 2011). The main
themes were the separation between theory and practice, the lack of self-esteem, and the need for
peer support. The findings are in line with the literature and the main recommendation is to develop
programs that address real life situations for initial teachers. This study highlights the need for continuous
education that supports teachers’ professional development.