Professional identities emerge from complex interactions between ontogenetic selves and socio-historical and Socio-cultural dimensions of the practice setting. This paper presents results from a longitudinal qualitative study of six early-career police officers as they transition from the Police College into the practice setting(s) of policing and in determining their specialisation. This research employed a combination of interview and observation methods within a case study methodology, exploring the learning of the participants over a three-year period. This paper presents the experiences of three of these case studies. Evident in this research was a complex relational interdependence between the self and social in the processes of learners constructing understandings of professional practice and identity.