The founding editor of the "Cambridge Journal of Education" reflects on the educational context in which it was established 50 years ago and the changes that have taken place since then. The paper focuses in particular on: (1) the pre-service education of teachers, the processes of 'academicisation', the incorporation of monotechnic teacher training colleges into universities and the contrary movements to ground teacher preparation in direct experience in schools; (2) the movement from a 1970s enthusiasm for participatory democracy for staff and students in higher education to the 1990s redefining of students as customers of a higher education market; (3) the turmoil of curriculum development around the time of the Journal's foundation; and (4) the disciplinary character of educational research in the early 1970s and the development of case study and classroom action research -- all themes reflected in the pages of the "Cambridge Journal of Education."