This paper reports on an interpretative study, exploring how students on pre-service teacher education courses in England construct the identities and knowledge bases of the teacher educators teaching them in Higher Education and/or in schools. There is a growing body of literature on teacher educators’ work and knowledge, but few studies research this question from student perspectives. The theoretical framework draws on the work of Bourdieu, defining teacher education as an ambiguous and ill-defined field, subject to changing influences from schooling and Higher Education. The framework sees teacher educators as agents involved in (re)producing the discourses and practices of school teaching and teacher education with and for students. In order to achieve this, they deploy their knowledge strategically and make visible aspects of their identities as educators. This study uses multi-case embedded case studies. Following relevant documentary analysis, 340 students within three university Schools of Education completed questionnaires. A purposive sample of 20 was then interviewed. The findings show that within teacher education types of practitioner knowledge have become valued capital, whereas other knowledge bases, particularly those gained through research are de-legitimised. Certain kinds of dispositions were valued in educators, particularly an ethos of care and responsibility for student progression.