The aim of this research was to explore the way in which talk is used in teacher focus group discussions. The data from these discussions belong to a wider study on the challenges teachers face when introducing foreign-language mediated education. The research presented here provides a careful analysis of the talk between teachers drawing on Bakhtin's dialogic theory. This theoretical framework allows for the critical consideration of the relationship between the teachers and the cultural context of institutionalised education. The main outcome from this research is the notion of "dialogic struggle" as an important characteristic of and window into thought-in-progress. As a key feature of the teacher discussions analysed here, dialogic struggles are understood to be important indicators of tensions and contradictions between teachers as conscientious educators and members of institutionalised education.