Seemingly comfortable in my physical education teacher education (PETE) role as a critical pedagogue, I was abruptly jolted into considering post-paradigmatic possibilities through participation in a collaborative project that explored shifting conceptualisations of knowledge and learning in initial teacher education (ITE). The project sought to examine twenty-first-century changes in understandings of knowledge and learning and to consider the implications for curriculum and pedagogical practices in New Zealand schools and in ITE. In this paper, I provide a description of the ontological shifting process I encountered through participation in a self-study research project. I argue that twenty-first-century conceptualisations of knowledge and learning offer unique possibilities for physical education (PE) and PETE contexts. In particular, I critique varying sociocultural orientations to PE and PETE (humanistic, critical and postcritical) and consider the possibilities and limitations inherent within each approach.