Since the early 1990s a significant body of literature has emerged in which the terms authentic and authenticity have been widely applied to educators and educational practices. In their attempts to promote improvements in teaching and learning through innovation based on educational research, writers have put forward a wide range of proposals for a more Authentic Education including developing the authenticity of learning tasks, assessment, pedagogy, and of both learners and teachers. Various frameworks and models have also been suggested, against which educators might measure the authenticity of their practice. A central argument of the thesis is that the current calls for authenticity in education are flawed through a lack of agreement on how these key terms authentic and authenticity should be used. This means that discussions over proposals for policy and practice based on these terms often rest on confused foundations. There is therefore a timely need to analyse the body of work relating to Authentic Education with the intention of developing coherence and consistency in the use of the term authentic in educational research. The primary method used in this analysis has been a narrative review of the literature. The process of undertaking this review revealed the need for a conceptual analysis of the various contradictions, assumptions and differing perspectives identified. Through this analysis, questions were raised about the value of attributing authenticity to any aspect of education. This led to the formulation of a controversial argument about abandoning the use of the terms authentic and authenticity in education. A wider implication of this is a need for educators and educational researchers to question the assumptions that are often inherent in using terms that have a range of philosophical and ontological foundations in order to promote a more coherent debate about “best” educational practice.