The numerous changes and improvements which have been wrought teacher education courses in the last two decades have not, apparently, satisfied critics. Ironically, the reverse seems to have occurred, as recent events on both sides Atlantic testify. This essay argues that the developments of the last two decades in educational research and teacher education, which have yielded a wealth of new ideas and procedures, have also yielded a confusing proliferation of educational ideologies. In short, it suggests the ascendancy of a diffuse, unselfcritical, and often combative discourse within tional studies has effectively eclipsed the more important question which must first tackled if educational studies are to have a coherent, robustfocus. This question, which pursued in the second section of the paper, asks: is the educational enterprise, properly conceived, a distinctive, autonomous or sui generis enterprise with purposes of its which are universal, or is it essentially a subservient enterprise, a vehicle for one or currently prevailing ideology (cultural, technological, political, religious, etc.)? In explor- ing this question the essay puts to work some enduring insights from contemporary European philosophy, arguing that education as a 'practical hermeneutic discipline' holds a singular promise. Some important consequences of this promise for educational studies and teacher education are then considered.