Understanding teacher educators' reasoning about critical moments in negotiating authority can inform efforts to foster democratic teacher education practices and prepare future teachers to teach democratically. We know very little, however, about critical moments in negotiating authority, particularly in teacher educators' practices. The purpose of this study was to examine, using self-study methodology, a teacher educator's assumptions and perspectives about purposefully and explicitly negotiating authority through grading and accountability processes in an undergraduate teacher education course. From a critical pedagogical lens--concerning the intersection of classroom power relations, democratic citizenship, and student growth--the findings suggest that seeking legitimacy through consensual acceptance, responding to students' expressed interests, and constructing knowledge through continual questioning present potential frameworks for constructing purposeful pedagogical partnerships consistent with democratic aims in teacher education.