David Burrell started his teaching career in grammar schools but moved into teacher training when still in his twenties. He talks about the early days of Bulmershe College of Education, in the 1960s a pioneer of new approaches to teaching history. He worked there with John Fines, the 'guru' of 'active' teaching methods of history. Burrell moved to Sussex University Education Department where he was instrumental in establishing their ground-breaking training scheme, which meant student teachers were based in schools and school staff acted as mentors to them. For David Burrell, part of the attraction was the potential to influence existing teachers and get them to try new methods. Despite this, Burrell casts doubt on the idea that the sixties and seventies saw radical changes in history teaching - bearing in mind the resource constraints in schools and the longevity of history teachers in post, change was always a long-term business. Interviewed by Nicola Sheldon.