比較教育學始建于200年前歐洲民族國家初步形成時期,在其奠基者朱利安的著作中孕育了比較教育學的三個基本矛盾:比較教育研究的出發點是國際主義的,還是民族主義的;比較教育研究的目標是尋找教育的規律還是學習借用其他國家的教育經驗;比較教育研究的對象是測量眾多民族國家的教育成就,還是講好他國的教育故事。比較教育學伴隨著民族國家的發展而發展,直至20世紀末,比較教育研究的基本特點是"借",借用他國教育經驗,借用其他社會科學的研究范式。在全球化的時代,比較教育研究的基本特點是多元,研究目的多元,研究單位多元,研究選題多元,研究范式多元。比較教育學科進入了"革命科學階段"。

Comparative education was founded 200 years ago,when the nation-states were established in Europe.The book published by Marc-Antonie Julian hints three conflicts in comparative education,1.The guiding principle for comparative education studies should be internationalism or nationalism;2.the objective of comparative education studies should be to find universal educational principles or to learn from others;3.Comparative education studies should aim to measure educational achievements of the nation-states or tell stories of others.Comparative education has developed along with the growth of nation-states.In the time of nationstates the basic characteristics of comparative education studies has been borrowing,i.e.borrowing educational experience from others and borrowing analysis paradigms from other social sciences.Now in the time of globalization,the basic characteristics of comparative education studies is diversification.The aims,research units,research problems and paradigms are all diversified.Comparative education has come into the "revolutionary science" stage.