Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is an innovative learner-centred and experiential approach to modern foreign language (MFL) teaching and learning that is not without controversy in the secondary MFL classroom. This article considers one secondary-level initial teacher education programme in New Zealand in which, following school curriculum reform, TBLT has become a specific focus. Drawing on aspects of participants' critical reflections as part of the year-long programme, the article explores participants' developing understandings of TBLT and its suitability for New Zealand's secondary schools. It was found that beginning teachers were generally positive about TBLT. They also perceived several challenges to its successful implementation. Reflections after experiences in schools revealed that local school contexts, including the levels of understanding of, and receptivity to, innovation among more experienced colleagues, made a difference to successful task utilisation. The article draws some conclusions about the role of teacher education in mediating innovation in MFL teaching successfully.