This study analyzed research studies that address graduate-level teacher development in Brazil, based on papers presented at ANPED GT8 (Teacher Development Workshop), during the annual meetings that occurred from 2003 through 2007. Focus was put mainly on the understanding of the ideas of teacher development expressed by the authors of the studies. Carried out using a qualitative approach and grounded in the theoretical-methodological framework of collective research, the article puts forward a proposal for research-development directed at the development of those who are involved in the preparation of teachers on the graduate level. The results of the study indicate the preeminence of a political approach to teacher preparation. A critical analysis of the ideological elements that permeate the thinking of the authors that were investigated made it possible to identify the presence of hegemony with respect to the ideas and research practices that deal with teacher development.