Education is today in question, both in its institutional forms and in its conceptual remit. The sense of a knowledge explosion and a world in rapid change challenges the curricula of schools, universities, vocational colleges. And the institutions seem to have to account for themselves in new ways, as if their purposes have subtly shifted. Outside formal institutions the possibilities of new technologies and new forms of communication are highly visible. Do we need education when we have information? What happens to education when it is all about learning? And what is the role of education research in any of this? In this 2011 Radford Lecture, Lyn Yates discusses challenges and transformations evident across the education spectrum today, and why, in the flux of new possibilities and new kinds of institutions, there is a need to talk again about the distinct purposes of education and education institutions.