Employing a historical approach and a bibliometric method, this paper offers a critical analysis of education research in France since 1833. The study yielded the following results: 1. A dual system of education characterizes the education research scenario in France, i.e. research in departments of education in the tertiary sector is more theoryoriented, while in College of Teacher Education Training (Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres, IUFM) it is more practice-oriented. 2. A multiple dialectical process concerning the development of education research has manifested itself in the institutionalization history of education science at universities. Since the establishment of the first university chair of education in 1883, a monolithic methodology has been the foundation of education. Due to the impact of global trends in evidence-based research and policy-making, transdisciplinary research has emerged in education studies adopting pluralistic methodologies. 3. From the perspective of the most commonly researched topics, more studies have been conducted on the topics of “curriculum & instruction,” “students” and “educational theory,” while studies on the themes of “education reform” and “educational policy and administration” are fewer. 4. After the Bologna Process, high-quality of education science and pedagogy have received much greater emphasis, leading to an increase in studies on systematic and meta-analytic studies on related education research, especially comparative education research.