The persistent strength of Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), since its first application in 2000, and its remarkable influence on the curricula practiced in schools in different countries has been recognized in several studies. Despite consistent criticism of the tests, from their conception to the calculation of scores, a growing number of countries join the exam, thus increasing its validation, reinforced by local and international media (Zhang, 2020; Mons, 2009). Addey et al. (2017) explain that, besides the economic and political international pressures and the homogenizing tendencies of globalization, joining PISA is also driven by internal motivations, either to validate local educational policies in progress or to justify the need for new reforms. Brazil, although not a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), has been engaged in PISA since the first meetings for its conception, in 1997 (Castro, 2016). With the announced goal of achieving PISA scores similar to those of OECD countries, Brazil developed its own assessment system (SAEB), with tests in mathematics and Portuguese that are applied in all public schools, since 2005. Differently oriented governments maintained this orientation that was consolidated in the National Education Plan (2014-2024). As in other countries, large-scale assessment has generated a process of curricular narrowing, with an increase in the school workload of mathematics and Portuguese language, to the detriment of other subjects. Studies show that in several regions and schools, the teaching of mathematics is test-oriented, in an effort to reach the goals set by the Plan and by the governments (Hypolito & Jorge, 2020).There is a significant body of research indicating that PISA is not an adequate instrument to assess students' knowledge and skills (Zhao, 2020). In Brazil, in all applications, more than 40% of the students who participated in the mathematics literacy test were classified as below level 1 and, therefore, their skills were not even evaluated. These scores raise questions about the adequacy of the mathematics tests to assess the knowledge and skills of Brazilian students. We argue that the contexts of the published items of the math tests, which are supposed to assess the ability to model and solve real-life problems (Stacey & Turner, 2015), are mostly unfamiliar to most 15-year-old Brazilians, who make up the population assessed by PISA. Using as sources the proceedings of meetings promoted by the Brazilian Mathematics Education Society since the 1990s, we intend to retrace the debates on large-scale assessments at these events. The discussion is motivated by the interest in understanding how and why Brazilian mathematics educators have attributed legitimacy to the results produced by PISA, since the questioning of the tests is recent and incipient.

This work discusses the College Student Residence Aparício Cora de Almeida (CEAUCA) as a remnant of the student movements in Rio Grande do Sul in the 1930s. Located in Porto Alegre-RS and founded in 1934, Ceuaca was the first student housing organization in the state, operating autonomously and self-managed for more than eight decades. CEAUCA is a type of cooperative, and its creation was aligned with the ideals of the Cordoba Manifesto (1918) and the disputes over the university model discussed at the time for Rio Grande do Sul, especially concerning the social function and democratization of higher education. Within this context, the Movimento Pró- Universidade do Rio Grande do Sul (Pro-University Movement of Rio Grande do Sul), and the Movimento Pró- Casa do Estudante Pobre (Pro-residence of Poor Students Movement) emerged, pointing out the disputes over democratic access and the conditions for students from impoverished social backgrounds to remain at university. CEAUCA's history is also intertwined with the biographical trajectory of Aparício Cora de Almeida (1906-1935), a student leader in the 1930s, linked to the Communist Party of Brazil (PCB) and murdered under never-fully clarified circumstances. After their son's death, Aparicio's parents donated a spacious building to the Casa do Estudante (Student House), enabling a significant increase in housing spaces and an improvement in the assistance services offered to students, such as the university restaurant and medical and dental care. The House experienced its golden years between the 1950s and 1960s, when it received the largest financial contributions from the UFRGS Rectory and the Ministry of Education (MEC). The profile of the students it assisted changed over the decades, particularly from the 1970s onwards. As UFRGS built its student housing and offered other student assistance services itself, the public served by Ceuaca became predominantly working students and students from private educational institutions. By freeing themselves from the burden of rent, they were able to pay for tuition at private universities and colleges. Despite its efforts to survive and its solidified organizational culture over the decades, Ceuaca was unable to withstand external injunctions. From the 1980s onwards, the organization was progressively underfunded due to political and economic circumstances in Brazil. Lacking the funds to maintain its headquarters, the building deteriorated until it collapsed in 2014 when its residents were relocated to other buildings with the promise that the State Government would renovate the original building, which has not happened to date. This study focused on the Casa do Estudante archive as the empirical corpus from which it carried out a historical documentary analysis, using subsidiarily journalistic, iconographic and oral narrative sources.

O trabalho aborda a Casa do Estudante Universitário Aparício Cora de Almeida (Ceuaca) como um remanescente dos movimentos estudantis sul-rio-grandenses da década de 1930. Localizada em Porto Alegre-RS e fundada em 1934, a Ceuaca foi a primeira organização de moradia para estudantes do estado, funcionando de modo autônomo e autogerido por mais de oito décadas. Espécie de cooperativa, sua criação esteve em sintonia com os ideais do Manifesto de Córdoba (1918) e as disputas em torno do modelo de universidade então discutidos para o Rio Grande do Sul, especialmente no que diz respeito a função social e a democratização do ensino superior. Foi nesse contexto que surgiram o Movimento Pró- Universidade do Rio Grande do Sul e o Movimento Pró- Casa do Estudante Pobre, que indicam as disputas em torno da pauta do acesso democrático e às condições de permanência do estudante oriundo de camadas sociais empobrecidas na Universidade. A história da Ceuaca igualmente entrecruza-se à trajetória biográfica de Aparício Cora de Almeida (1906-1935), líder estudantil dos anos 1930, ligado ao Partido Comunista do Brasil (PCB) e morto em circunstâncias nunca plenamente esclarecidas. Após a morte do filho, os pais de Aparício doam um amplo prédio à Casa do Estudante, possibilitando um significativo aumento de vagas de moradia e incremento nos serviços de assistência estudantil oferecidos, como restaurante universitário e atendimentos médicos e odontológicos. A Casa viveu seus anos dourados entre as décadas de 1950 e 1960, período em que recebeu os maiores aportes financeiros da Reitoria da UFRGS e do Ministério da Educação (MEC). O perfil dos estudantes por ela atendido mudou ao longo das décadas, especialmente a partir dos anos 1970. À medida em que a UFRGS construía suas próprias casas para estudantes e oferecia ela mesma os demais serviços de assistência estudantil, o público atendido pela Ceuaca passou a ser constituído predominantemente de estudantes-trabalhadores e alunos de instituições privadas de ensino. Estes, ao se livrarem do ônus do aluguel, podiam custear as mensalidades das universidades e faculdades particulares. A despeito dos esforços pela sobrevivência e de sua cultura organizacional solidificada ao longo das décadas, a Ceuaca não resistiu às injunções externas. A partir da década 1980, fatores ligados à conjuntura política e econômica do país resultariam no progressivo subfinanciamento da entidade. Sem recursos para a manutenção do prédio sede, a edificação foi se deteriorando até colapsar, em 2014, quando os seus moradores foram remanejados para imóveis, com a promessa de reforma do prédio original por parte do Governo do Estado, o que não aconteceu até hoje. O presente estudo privilegiou o arquivo da Casa do Estudante como corpus empírico a partir do qual realizou uma análise documental histórica, mobilizando, subsidiariamente, fontes jornalísticas, iconográficas e narrativas orais.

This research discusses the body images on the creation of the first two university degrees in Physical Education in Argentina in 1953, in La Plata and Tucumán. Two different approaches to body education were developed by these professional institutions with distinct disciplinary positions. The first approach is associated with a humanistic theoretical-pedagogical perspective, while the second is linked to a sports-biological perspective. The inclusion of the former in the Faculty of Humanities and Educational Sciences and the latter in the Faculty of Biological Sciences reflects their respective disciplinary perspectives.

However, these traditions are not reflected in the first film productions that reflect the first steps of both careers. The aim is to analyse the discourses projected in the short films “Plan Elemental de Gimnasia Educativa”, produced around 1953 by the state organisation Cine Escuela Argentino as part of a series of three classes in fascicles (Galak and Orbuch, 2021), and “El movimiento como medio de expresión”, a 1957 production by the Instituto Cinematográfico (ICUNT), which develops a gymnastic plan for women. These are two unpublished films found in the uncatalogued collections of the Museo del Cine “Pablo Ducrós Hicken” (Buenos Aires) and the Documentation and Archives Department of the Film School (Tucumán). This finding allows us to observe not only the internal struggles that Physical Education went through, but also the gradual use of cinematography as a didactic resource for state higher education (Dussel and Gutiérrez, 2006; Serra, 2011).

Although there are differences in the discourses and audiovisual resources, three general themes can be identified. The film shows a relationship between physical techniques and cinematographic techniques to explain a physical exercise. This combination of techniques aims to project a pedagogical image that is not only informative but also formative, with the intention of reproducing a know-how and a know-how-being. Secondly, physical education is associated with a particular moral formation that places the teacher at the centre of the scene, distinguishes masculine and feminine ways of moving and is based, among other things, on the extrinsic utility of each movement. Thirdly, there were two opposing pedagogical models, each seeking to develop an 'Argentine' physical education, influenced by foreign models but with local meanings. The incorporation of these teaching professions into public universities was a reform that was not without resistance and contradictions. An example of this is that, despite the traditions that sustained each career, the ICUNT filming emphasises aesthetics, folk music, and graceful movement, unlike the UNLP production. Regardless of being discursively argued by a renovating pedagogy, it presents a historical continuity by showing classes with clear influences of Danish gymnastics proposed by Niels Buhk in the first half of the twentieth century.

In summary, both educational films presented 'modern gymnastics' classes that aimed to reform the tradition of scientific-positivist Argentine Physical Education that have been established between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. However, they did not adopt a decolonial perspective that would reject the colonial legacy of seeking solutions to local issues from abroad (mainly Europe).

This paper is the final result of my dissertation research. The work synthesizes a historiographical contribution on a sui generis international scholarship program in the form of educational development aid that was implemented between 1977 and 2012 on the second largest island of the Cuban Caribbean archipelago, the Isla de la Juventud. Based on archival sources and reports of more than 400 participants, Cubaʼs motivation for organizing this educational aid is discussed. First, the “Third World” category is analyzed as a contextual framework for this variant of internationalism with around forty countries and organizations, many of them emerging from decolonization and in which, therefore, considerable infrastructural and personnel deficits existed. It is then shown that Cuba structured its educational assistance according to the needs and interests of the countries and people involved. It is evidenced that, in addition to the offer of specialties, the program focused on the massive granting of scholarships for lower secondary education and that this measure represented the decisive contribution of the program in view of the low schooling rates in the Third World. Taking into account the main debates on development aid in education, the paper draws on studies of South-South cooperation and the history of official international scholarships to argue that Cuba was guided by the principle of solidarity both in its initial motivation and in the form of the relationships established in the implementation of the program, as well as in the final results of the program. The complex ʽpackage of interventionsʼ of educational aid proved to be as important as the shared responsibility and cooperation between the partners. In this regard, the present paper refers to the circumstances and problems that arose in adapting to the foreign school environment and culture as well as to the supports for the development of cultural diversity in the new Third World nation states. Finally, the integration of the skills trained in the countries of origin is traced in order to find out the purpose of the training received there. This study concludes that the Cuban development aid policy in the field of education managed to circumvent the “national depersonalization” of the beneficiaries. In other words, participants in the Isla de la Juventud program returned to their countries of origin with a sense of belonging to their nation, taking with them the skills acquired in the ʽopen curriculaʼ and the attitudes conveyed in the ʽnon-written curriculaʼ, which are relevant in different work contexts. Therefore, the solidarity motivation of Cuban support for educational development in the form of international scholarships on the Isla de la Juventud proves to be sustained by a high degree of self-sufficiencies identified with the societies of origin.

Este paper es el resultado final de mi estudio de doctorado. El trabajo sintetiza una contribución historiográfica sobre un programa internacional de becas sui generis en forma de ayuda educativa al desarrollo que se implementó entre 1977 y 2012 en la segunda isla más grande del archipiélago caribeño cubano, la Isla de la Juventud. A partir de fuentes de archivos digitales estadounidenses, de papelería cubana (en la Isla de la Juventud y en La Habana), así como de más de 400 reportes obtenidos de entrevistas individuales, de grupo, de encuestas e intercambios con ex-estudiantes, docentes y cuadros, se discute la motivación de Cuba para la organización de esta ayuda educativa. En primer lugar, se analiza la categoría del “Tercer Mundo” como marco contextual de esta variante de internacionalismo cubano con cerca de 40 países (organizaciones/ estados), muchos de los cuales surgieron de la descolonización y, por tanto, con considerables déficits infraestructurales y de personal. A continuación, se evidencia que Cuba estructuró su asistencia educativa en función de las necesidades e intereses de los países y personas implicados. Se demuestra que, además de la oferta de especialidades, el programa se centró en la concesión masiva de becas para el primer ciclo de la enseñanza secundaria y que esta medida representó la contribución decisiva del programa en vista de las bajas tasas de escolarización en el Tercer Mundo. Teniendo en cuenta los principales debates sobre la ayuda al desarrollo en educación, el trabajo se apoya en estudios de cooperación Sur-Sur y en la historia de las becas oficiales internacionales para argumentar que Cuba se guió por el principio de solidaridad tanto en su motivación inicial como en la forma de las relaciones establecidas en la implementación del programa, así como en los resultados finales del mismo. El complejo ʽpaquete de intervencionesʼ de ayuda educativa resultó ser tan importante como la responsabilidad compartida y la cooperación entre las contrapartes. En este sentido, el presente trabajo hace referencia a las circunstancias y los problemas que surgieron en la adaptación al entorno escolar y a la cultura extraña, así como a los apoyos al desarrollo de la diversidad cultural en los nuevos Estados-nación del Tercer Mundo. Por último, se rastrea la integración de las capacidades formadas en los países de origen para averiguar qué finalidad tiene allí la formación recibida. Este estudio concluye que la política cubana de ayuda al desarrollo en el ámbito de la educación logró sortear la “despersonalización nacional” del ayudado. En otras palabras, los/las participantes en el programa de la Isla de la Juventud regresaron a sus países de origen con sentidos de pertenencia a su nación, llevando consigo las competencias adquiridas en los ʽcurrículos abiertosʼ y las actitudes transmitidas en los ʽcurrículos no escritosʼ, que son relevantes en diferentes contextos laborales. Por tanto, la motivación solidaria de la ayuda cubana al desarrollo educativo en forma de becas internacionales en la Isla de la Juventud demuestra estar sustentada en un grado alto de autosuficiencias identificadas con las sociedades de origen.