The Research Community 'Philosophy and History of the Discipline of Education' was established in 1999. The academics involved in this worldwide network share the belief that there is a place within the discipline of education for so-called foundationalist approaches. This is not, however, to answer a need for a (new) foundation, but to systematically study a particular area from a discipline-oriented stance. This paper details the reasons for establishing this collaborative research, develops the rationale behind the various topics that were addressed, and pays particular attention to 'method', to Wittgenstein's 'picture' metaphor, and to Ankersmit's 'intertextuality in history'. For two decades annual meetings provided the opportunity to enable a deeper understanding of the many kinds of educational research. The 'output' can be found in articles and special issues of journals and in twelve edited collections. Finally, the suite of papers appearing in this issue is introduced. Another suite will appear in issue 5 of the 2020 volume of this journal.