This study seeks to establish the influence of out-of-school experiences on identity formation among nine beginning elementary teachers, in Ireland, during their initial year of occupational experience, post-graduation. Premised on identity formation as inseparable from the sociohistorical contexts within which individuals participate, the concept of ‘figured worlds’ (Holland et al. 1998) is chosen as a conceptual binding to help elucidate the manner in which the formation of beginning teachers’ identities occurs. Data, in the form of anecdotal narratives of lived experience, was collected through individual conversational interviews with each participant. Discussed within the ambit of pertinent literature, conclusions demonstrate how social forces determine how beginners interact in socially defined worlds. Four issues attest to the scholarly significance of the study.