The educational comparison we mentioned earlier has not really formed a relatively complete theory and method system, and it can't be regarded as a discipline in the educational discipline system strictly, so it is not a real comparative pedagogy. Until the19th century, the rise of European nation-state system and the outbreak of industrial revolution prompted European and American countries to implement the policy of enriching Qiang Bing.

At that time, people thought it was completely feasible to transplant the education system of one country to another, so all countries actively sent experts abroad to learn from countries with advanced education in order to use it for us, so comparative education came into being and developed. However, most of the investigations in this period were superficial and encyclopedic; It often ignores the connection between education in other countries and local planning life, and ignores the in-depth discussion on the feasibility of educational experience in other countries. Therefore, people also call this period "the reference age". As the first stage of comparative education research-the advocacy stage of discipline, the characteristics of methodology are access and reference.

As the first stage of the development of comparative education, the reference era is marked by Julian's "Outline and Preliminary Opinions on Comparative Education" published in Paris Education in 18 17, and the word "comparative education" is officially used for the first time in the book.

Other important comparative educationists who draw lessons from the times are Victor Cousin of France (1792 ~ 1867). 183 1 year, my cousin, as a foreign education information investigator, was ordered by the French Minister of Education to study education in Prussia, and wrote the Report on Public Education in Prussia, which provided an important reference for the French government to formulate the basic law of the primary education system-Loi de Guizot (1933). Horace Mann (1796 ~ 1859), inspector general of education in Massachusetts, USA, returned from a visit to Europe in 1842 and wrote the famous seventh report. This is a report submitted after a six-month investigation on education in European countries. Japan's Minister of Education, Fujikuni Tanaka, compiled the Merits of the Director after inspecting the education systems in Europe and America.

At present, the main purpose of comparative education research is to introduce foreign educational experience as a reference to improve the domestic education system.