In an exploratory study of 12 teacher education programs representing various geographic regions and institutional types according to the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, this author and a colleague (Goodwin & Oyler, 2008) learned from teacher educators across the country about the many constraints they work within, the lack of control (or support) they feel, and the multiple (oftentimes unrealistic and contradictory) expectations they face. Indeed, teacher educators find themselves in the unhappy position of needing to please numerous masters, all of whom exert some say over the design, delivery, and evaluation of teacher preparation. In the current climate in which teacher educators operate, the external is more demanding than ever. It is no surprise that teacher educators find "learning spaces" (Hostetler et al., 2007) to be elusive, and notions of self-study and thoughtful reflection take a backseat. Yet it is when the external is most demanding, when teacher educators are fielding harsher criticisms, tighter controls, proliferating mandates and regulations, and threats of punitive accountability, that reflection and self-study seem most necessary to help them make sense of the tensions, complexities, political arguments, and dilemmas inherent in contemporary teacher education work. Goodwin suggests that now is the time for what Yinger (1990) terms "the conversation of practice" so that [teacher] educators [can] make sense of the phenomena of experience that puzzle or perplex them" (Grimmett et al., 1998, p. 20). Through self-study of their own practices, teacher educators can remake their own "unique history" and "retrieve an aspiration perhaps forgotten or submerged in contemporary educational trends...to restore meaning as an aim that can guide educational practice." (Hostetler et al., 2007, p.233).