This article deals with the Société européenne d’ethnographie de l’éducation (seee) from both the point of view of its history and its stakes related to comparative analysis. How can ethnography in education develop based on a substantial bond with school ethnography and institutional analysis ? The seee members assert that ethnography cannot be reduced to a mere inquiry method : ethnography needs to cast a glance over other people, which means anthropology. Discussing the situation in various countries and among European networks, this paper shows how ethnographers in education try to build a « reflexive comparative analysis » of their field research (epistemologically and methodologically speaking, in regard to the choices of research objects).