For many teachers there can be an uncomfortable mismatch between the ambitious narratives of development education (DE) / global citizenship education (GCE) and classroom realities. When research suggests that students understand GCE in multiple and contradictory ways and as a vague construct unrelated to their daily lives, the temptation to draw attention to the challenges is strong: low and marginalised status in schools; insufficient time, dependent on individual champions rather than a whole-school approach; inadequate teacher preparation/confidence/courage leading towards ‘soft’ activities such as ‘fundraising, fasting and fun’ rather than critique and activism including a tendency to avoid sensitive and controversial issues. In my experience as a teacher and a teacher educator, many feel overwhelmed by the cultural and structural constraints. This in turn can lead to varied responses: defeatism, relative disengagement, lowering of expectations, increased determination to carry on, more intense engagement with issues and resources, and a strengthened motivation to change the culture of the school and even the system.