Teacher education in the English as a foreign language context has witnessed a shift from only emphasising expert-generated professional theories to combining such theories with teacher-generated personal theories. However, little is known about whether such a combination is beneficial in preparing pre-service English teachers to teach reading skills. Theoretically informed by the notion of local knowledge, post-transmission and postmodernism, the present multiple-case qualitative study aimed at investigating eight secondary school pre-service English teachers’ learning experience (i.e., knowledge gained about expert-generated professional theories) and teaching practice in a Teaching Reading and Writing education course (i.e., knowledge of the teacher-generated personal theories). Data was collected and triangulated from multiple sources, including lesson plans, teaching videos and transcripts of these recordings, and the teacher educator's written feedback on both the lesson plans and the teaching. Results revealed that scanning and skimming were two primary reading skills that the pre-service teachers perceived to be significant in teaching English reading. However, there was a mismatch between what they planned to teach and what they actually taught. This mismatch did not necessarily indicate incompetency at teaching but instead reflected their individualised personal theories. Implications for fostering pre-service teachers’ autonomy as practitioners were discussed. Context and implications Rationale for this study English as a foreign language teacher training literature has taken a deficient perspective of local English teacher education without consideration of local pre-service teacher needs. Why the new findings matter Critically evaluating the suggestions provided by teacher education literature when assessing local teaching approaches can potentially lead to more relevant teacher education outcomes. Implications for language teacher educators When educating student teachers, teacher educators may be accustomed to taking a deficient perspective by designing course content and instructing student teachers in knowledge they believe to be important without considering student teachers’ existing local knowledge or needs. The global influence of mainstream language learning ideologies prevalent in language teaching materials and teacher training materials should be critically evaluated. It is important for teacher educators to consider local teacher needs and get a good understanding of the local context prior to providing teacher education. Otherwise, the teacher educators run the risk of suggesting change that is unrealistic and impracticable.