This critical discussion paper explores the epistemic governance of "community readiness" in and for teacher education. Classroom ready is often interpreted as technical skill which places emphasis on practice to the detriment of more complex interpretations of the relational nature of teachers' work, leading to a potential narrowing of teachers' professional roles. Importantly, classrooms do not exist in a vacuum. We seek to untangle the discursive clusters and processes that can be taken for granted in terms such as "community" and the implications for teacher education that serves quality education and teaching.