In 1961 the Centre for the Study of the History of Education at Ghent University, Belgium published the first issue of the multilingual journal Paedagogica Historica: International Journal of the History of Education. This book celebrates its fiftieth volume. In fourteen contributions written by different generations of historians of education, it demonstrates that in an era where the history of education at university level is at risk, both the journal and the discipline are pulsing, and alive and kicking. Was the journal a trendsetter or a follower, and which position did it take with respect to the International Standing Conference for the History of Education? These are questions addressed in the first section of this book. In the second section, a number of articles show national and transnational developments of the history of education. In their diversity, they make clear how the national and the transnational together characterize the discipline. They show why journals in this domain should stimulate the development of broader concepts and theories in order to put national and regional cases in a broader scientific context and to make them attractive for international readership. In the last section authors turn their minds to the future of the history of education. They write about the shaping of new trends and about moving beyond borders, focusing on, among other things, the challenge of neurosciences and of digital humanities. This book was originally published as a special issue of Paedagogica Historica.

Growing educational ambitions, today raised to a historically unprecedented level and shared by parents, the state and educational professionals, seem to not always result in happier children. With more parents apparently becoming more uncertain about their educational capacities, the variety of categories of children at risk is increasing, alongside unprecedented growth in welfare, educational investment, laws on children's protection and rights, and knowledge about children and education. This book addresses the topic of educational ambitions and spaces in a European context from the 17th century to the present, paying special attention to the Dutch case, from three perspectives. Firstly, it looks at how educational ambitions have changed from the 17th century to the present. Secondly, it looks at the role of the educational space. Finally, it addresses the issue of how the educational ambition of acting in the children's best interests is connected with the phenomenon of children at risk.