<p>Previous research revealed that some pre-service teachers developed mixed conceptions of teaching, incorporating conceptions from two orientations: student-oriented and teacher-oriented. However, there is debate about whether their mixed teaching conceptions could be deemed dissonant, potentially resulting in negative teaching effects. This study investigated how a&#xa0;group of Chinese pre-service teachers might develop conceptions of teaching under the influence of an internship and how they might perceive and manage the relationships between the conceptions from the two orientations. Semi-structured interviews were conducted twice: before and after the internship, with a&#xa0;group of Chinese pre-service teachers (<i>n</i> = 24, aged 21–22). Results indicated that all participants held teaching conceptions from both orientations even before the internship. The internship led most of them to embrace teachers’ authority role and resulted in certain shared combinations of teaching conceptions. Participants were found to have negative, vague or positive perspectives concerning the relationships between student-oriented and teacher-oriented conceptions. The positive perspectives helped some participants to construct consonant combinations of teaching conceptions, whereas the negative and vague perspectives could lead to dissonant combinations. Theoretical and practical implications of the research were discussed.</p>