In this proposal I present the concept of colonized rationalities as a useful conceptual tool to deepen the understanding of the role played by the diffusion of compulsory school in the subalternization and cultural domination of certain peoples over others. Such rationalities emerge in the history of the process of schooling in Modernity and have a strong presence in schools today. Specifically, I assume as a framework of empirical analysis the history of Brazilian schooling, with special attention to the late nineteenth century and the entire twentieth century. In dialogue with other areas of knowledge, especially sociology, I delineated the examination of historical sources giving attention to the specific, intending to make explicit the differences (Certeau, 2000). Therefore, the empirical corpus was composed by the specialized periodical press - journals on education and bulletins published by state educational management agencies -; newspapers of the common press (which circulated in some of the major Brazilian cities) and books on education or pedagogical treatises with outstanding importance in the educational debate. From the theoretical point of view, the study is based on the contributions of Aníbal Quijano (2000), notably the concept of coloniality of power, and Walter Mignolo (2000), about the relations between local histories and global projects. The school, as we know it today, arises in Europe and has among its main functions - considering the changes it has undergone over time – to discipline the bodies and ways of thinking, to civilize behavior and to disseminate knowledge that is essential for the proper functioning of societies and the coexistence among peoples. To the extent that this institution becomes part of the history of the countries that were colonized by European peoples, as is the case of Brazil, beyond the functions that are constitutive to it and that have effects anywhere, a project of cultural domination and racialized inferiorization is added (Veiga, 2022). In this sense, what the historical research allowed to verify was the imposition of certain ways of organizing school work - generically called as rationalized - that contribute to the purposes of subalternization. Without claiming to exhaust all the forms that can be assumed in this process and aware that these are articulated practices, I present four of these rationalities: evolutionary sense, standardization, classification and quantification.

The investigation of the formation of memory discourses confronts us with mutual and reciprocal relationships between various perspectives including complex relations of medial documentation, (re-)presentations and reception (e. g. Wagoner 2018). With regard to the GDR, societal discourses on divided memory in united Germany (Clarke/Wölfel 2011) fluctuate between the dictatorial character of the political system and ordinary life experiences and are also concerned with the following process of transformation (Reißig 2000; Brückweh et al. 2020). Many a time there is a finding that the memory of the GDR is shaped by a perspective from its decline (Hodgin/Pearce 1011; Rechtien/Tate 2011). These lines may finally condense in a perception of the process of transformation as well as of the memory discourse as a form of Western colonialization (McFalls/Hausstein 2015; Shortt 2012). Also with regard to the educational system we find similar lines of discussion and arguments. Based on various sources educational history research has started early to analyze the discrepancies and concordances between ideological concepts and educational practice (e. g. Tenorth et. al. 1996). In addition, we find various documentations of biographical narratives which are also turned into filmic, literal or documentary forms of representation (Bäucker 2021; Führer 2016; Hädicke 2000; Klier 1990; Pietzsch 2007). These various documentations present a spectrum of diverse perceptions of socialist school life which are full of nuances. Some focus on the positive aspects of socialist efforts, others describe pronounced attempts of political indoctrination, a culture of doublespeak and education to duplicity, others, in turn, interpret these elements of socialist education in an unpolitical way as usual daily life experiences. Sometimes one can identify defensive approaches against a supposed (Western) interpretation of indoctrination in school. Against this backdrop this paper is grounded on an analysis of various sources. Specifically, it will introduce an exceptional kind of archive, the “Open Memory Box”. The “Open Memory Box” is a publicly accessible online home-movie collections. The collection contains 415 hours video material from 283 film rolls, contributed by 150 filmmaking families. After the retro-digitalization of the material, the creators of the “Open Memory Box” developed some exceptional ways of how to organize the materials and how to find an order of classification, as for example an “Anti-Archive”, considering the film collection as “boxes” (McFalls 2022; Berg 2023). Using a keyword search it is possible to identify video sequences which document school life or further educational experiences (e.g. vacation camps or pioneer life). The paper will present an overview and analyses of these kind of video-sequences in order to qualify which kind of memory they represent. The images found there will be embedded in the wider framework of various forms of filmic, literal or documentary forms of representations of educational experiences in the GDR. Based on that the contribution intends a better understanding of what kind of memories we find in distinct archives as for example the “Open Memory Box”. Finally, it discusses the possible contribution of these perspectives within a multifaceted memory discourse for historical educational research.

This paper considers and reflects the use of school magazines in my research on the gendered history of schooling in interwar Hong Kong. In untangling the constructed landscape of gender in the literary world of the school magazine and the lived experiences of women navigating the conflicting gender ideals of the interwar period, I argue the function of the literary space as a platform to articulate and circulate new and emerging ideas of gendered agencies. It provided a space where women from diverse career pathways could define their professional identities and reflect on women’s broader roles in society. It is because women’s writings in the literary space of school magazines are often aspirational in nature, these writings at times are purposeful silent on the gender tensions that might have been experienced in everyday life such as in universities or in professions. In a read of one specific school magazine News Echo published by an elite girls’ school St. Stephen’s Girls’ College in interwar Hong Kong against other historical sources such as oral histories, newspapers, and government reports, this paper shows that the very nature of writings in textual spaces as constructed for a particular audience opens up new possibilities for historical writing that interrogates the everyday worlds as aspired by female writers and the layered realities as lived by female students and professionals. Parallel to unearthing the ‘aspired’ world and new forms of gendered agency constructed in the textual space, this paper also reads the school magazine as a decolonial exercise. It moves beyond the framing of girls’ education in colonial Hong Kong as an imperial enterprise to uncover the layered contexts that shaped Chinese girls’ schooling experience and career aspirations. Responding to the New Woman and Modern Girl phenomenon in Republican China, the textual space of News Echo portrayed St. Stephen’s students as the useful women of China, rather than of the British Empire. Imperial ethic of missionaries and nationalist sentiments of the Chinese elites entwined to shape the curriculum and everyday practices at this elite girls’ school. The paper shows it is in the intersecting worlds of missions, transnational women’s networks, and empires that St. Stephen’s envisioned its role in the shaping of modern China. As a historical source, the school magazine News Echo captured the educational aspirations of missionaries, the British colonial state, and the Chinese elites. It also documented the public and professional life of European and Chinese women both in and beyond Hong Kong. Read against other sources such as oral histories, diaries, newspapers, and official records, the magazine is a portrait of the contradictions and fractures in the aspired worlds of gendered agency created in the textual space.

The present study considers the triad of archive, collection and source for the construction of a historical narrative that pays attention to diversity and (de)colonization in the History of Education in the Federal District, Brazil, in the 1960s. Specifying this triad, taking The Documentation and Memory Center of the Faculty of Education of the University of Brasília (CEDUC/FE/UnB) serves as a space of memory, which will complete three decades since its creation in 2024. Currently, CEDUC has ten research funds and, in this work, the Fund for the History of Education of the Federal District and Surrounding Area was considered and, within it, the Pre-Book Ataliba or Cartilha Ataliba, as it is known in Brasília, by teachers and former students who became literate with this work. At CEDUC you will find the material that would serve as a guide for teachers. The work was created around 1963/64 and its author is Ivonilde Faria Morrone, who was a public school teacher in Brasília, DF. The booklet is named after the boy Ataliba, a character who makes up the literacy plot together with his family (dad and mom, no names given, and his sister, Nina), with his sister's friend (Anita), his sister (Lili) and pets (Sapeca, the dog, and Mimi, the cat). Short texts are presented, whose words allow the separation and construction of other words by joining syllables. As explained by the author, “the “Ataliba” booklet was based on the eclectic method (or mixed, which were being highly valued at the time), it was widely used, more than 200 thousand children were taught literacy with it. 37 editions were published with 5,000 copies each” (MORRONE, 2012, n.p.). In addition to the debate on the literacy method and school material highlighted, the Ataliba booklet, with white, well-dressed characters, with two pets and toys, allows reflection on who the highlighted representation was interested in and the educational needs of which children /students. It is noted, when comparing the Census and news in the local newspaper, that part of the population of children aged 0 to 9 years in Brasília was not considered when thinking about production, if we take a total of 19,193 children aged 0 to 4 years , when 7963 were black, yellow and brown; or, even, a total of 14,110 children aged 5 to 9 years, when 5878 were black, yellow and brown (IBGE, 1960, p. 10). It is possible to identify that the Ataliba booklet, despite being a specific initiative in Brasília, since it did not circulate in other places, due to its image composition, perpetuated colonial worldviews and marginalized other perspectives. Paying attention to a decolonial approach, the booklet could have considered children, descendants of northeastern immigrants, indigenous people, in addition to black children, valuing other forms of everyday representations present in the local community.

O presente estudo considera a tríade arquivo, acervo e fonte para a construção de narrativa histórica que se atenta para a diversidade e a (des)colonização na História da Educação do Distrito Federal, Brasil, na década de 1960. Especificando essa tríade, toma-se como espaço de memória o Centro de Documentação e Memória da Faculdade de Educação da Universidade de Brasília (CEDUC/FE/UnB), que completa no ano de 2024 três décadas desde a sua criação. Atualmente, o CEDUC tem dez fundos de pesquisa e, neste trabalho, considerou-se o Fundo de História da Educação do Distrito Federal e Entorno e, dentro dele, o Pré-Livro Ataliba ou Cartilha Ataliba, como é conhecido em Brasília, por docentes e ex estudantes que foram alfabetizados com tal obra. No CEDUC encontra-se o material que serviria como guia para as professoras e professores. A obra foi elaborada por volta de 1963/64 e tem como autora Ivonilde Faria Morrone, que foi professora da rede pública de Brasília, DF. A cartilha recebe o nome do menino Ataliba, personagem que compõe o enredo de alfabetização junto com sua família (papai e mamãe, sem nomes indicados, e a irmã, Nina), com a amiga de sua irmã (Anita), a boneca de sua irmã (Lili) e os animais de estimação (Sapeca, o cão, e Mimi, o gato). Apresenta-se textos curtos, cujas palavras possibilitam a separação e construção de outras palavras pela junção das sílabas. Segundo exposto pela autora, “a cartilha “Ataliba” foi pautada no método eclético (ou misto, que estavam sendo muito valorizados na época), foi muito utilizada, mais de 200 mil crianças foram alfabetizadas com ela. Foi publicada 37 edições com 5.000 exemplares cada uma” (MORRONE, 2012, n.p.). Para além do debate sobre método de alfabetização e materialidade escolar evidenciada, a cartilha Ataliba, com personagens brancos, bem vestidos, com dois animais de estimação e brinquedos, permite a reflexão sobre a quem interessava a representação evidenciada e para as necessidades educacionais de que crianças/estudantes. Nota-se, no confronto com o Censo e notícias no jornal local que, parte da população de crianças de 0 a 9 anos de Brasília, não foi considerada para pensar a produção, se tomarmos um total de 19.193 de crianças de 0 a 4 anos, quando 7963 eram pretas, amarelas e pardas; ou, ainda, um total de 14.110 crianças de 5 a 9 anos, quando 5878 eram pretas, amarelas e pardas (IBGE, 1960, p. 10). É possível identificar que a cartilha Ataliba, apesar de ser uma iniciativa específica de Brasília, uma vez que não circulou em outros locais, pela composição imagética, perpetuava visões de mundo coloniais e marginalizava outras perspectivas. Atentando-se para uma abordagem decolonial, a cartilha poderia ter considerado as crianças, descendentes de imigrantes nordestinos, de indígenas, além das crianças negras, valorizando outras formas de representações cotidianas presentes na comunidade local.

This paper is part of a research work, interested in reflecting on the ways that the field of the history of Argentine and Latin American education established with archives. How was (or was not) this link problematized? In what ways has this (lack of) problematization affected our "archival preferences" (Caruso, 2015)? What conversation can be established with anthropological work and decoloniality to elaborate a de-fetishized conception of the archive-document? How might such a dialogue contribute to decolonize our notion of the archive and favor the writing of histories of education "more conscious" of the weight exerted by the coloniality of power in their narratives? In this presentation I direct my attention to the ways in which the coloniality of power has marked our relationship with archives and how it has influenced, in turn, the writing of the history of education. We start from a fact that will have to be ascertained: "Historical narratives are premised on prior agreements, which are in turn based on the distribution of archival power" (Trouillot, 2017). Addressing this issue from the perspective of the global south, Premesh Lalu (2000) discusses how South African nationalist historiography dismissed colonial sources as functional to empire, but also disdained oral sources and myths as outside the order of the "verifiable" for the archive (cited in Rufer and Gorbach, 2016). That double denial drags consequences for writing, among them the naturalization of colonial asymmetries and the invisibilization of the histories of the vanquished. The issue leads to another question: who, within a specific society and time, has the right to "produce" archives? Following the case of the Enlightenment period in the Río de la Plata and the ways in which women are named in relation to education, Vasallo points out that it is not only a matter of making visible the place of women in these histories, but also of understanding that we plunge into archives traversed by "stereotypes (...) mostly produced by men" (2022). Inquiring from this perspective about the possibilities of the archive can have a reparatory sense that - at the same time - confirms that there is no subaltern speech that does not already contain the lexies of domination (Rufer, 2016). The forms adopted by the archive in Latin America (and Argentina is no exception) are connected to foundational violence. The burning of codices perpetrated by Fray Diego de Landa in Yucatán forcefully exposes this foundational event. After the "purifying fire", a figure of the archive was deployed, articulated to the written word, as a condition to propitiate an epistemological conquest of the indigenous peoples. These reflections aspire to think of the figure of the archive not as a metaphorical space of extraction, but as an instance that produces a symbolic economy, opening the reflection on how and through what discourses and supports communities make contact, investigate and make known the information of the tensions between past and present.

Esta ponencia se inscribe en un trabajo de investigación más amplio, interesado en reflexionar sobre los vínculos que el campo de la historia de la educación argentina y latinoamericana estableció con sus archivos. ¿Cómo fue (o no) problematizado ese vínculo? ¿De qué modos ha incidido esa (ausencia de) problematización sobre nuestras “preferencias de archivo” (Caruso, 2015)? ¿Qué conversación puede establecerse con los trabajos antropológicos y la decolonialidad para elaborar una concepción desfetichizada del archivo-documento? ¿Cómo podría ese diálogo contribuir a decolonizar nuestra noción de archivo y favorecer la escritura de historias de la educación “más conscientes” del peso que ejerce la colonialidad del poder en sus narrativas? En esta presentación dirijo mi atención sobre las formas en que la colonialidad del poder ha marcado nuestra relación con los archivos y cómo aquella ha incidido, a su vez, en la escritura de la historia de la educación. Partimos de un hecho que habrá que constatar: “Las narrativas históricas tienen como premisa acuerdos anteriores, que se asientan a su vez en la distribución del poder archivístico” (Trouillot, 2017). Abordando este asunto desde la perspectiva del sur global, Premesh Lalu (2000) analiza cómo la historiografía nacionalista sudafricana descartó las fuentes coloniales por considerarlas funcionales al imperio, pero también desdeñó las fuentes orales y los mitos por entenderlos fuera del orden de lo “verificable” para el archivo (citado en Rufer y Gorbach, 2016). Esa doble negación arrastra consecuencias para la escritura, entre ellas la naturalización de las asimetrías coloniales y la invisibilización de las historias de los vencidos. El asunto conduce a otra pregunta: ¿quiénes tienen, dentro de una sociedad y un tiempo específicos, derecho a “producir” archivo? Siguiendo el caso del período ilustrado en el Río de la Plata y los modos en que son nombradas las mujeres en relación con la educación, Vasallo señala que no solo se trata de visibilizar el lugar de las mujeres en esas historias, sino de comprender que nos zambullimos en archivos atravesados por “estereotipos (…) mayormente producidos por varones” (2022). Indagar desde esta perspectiva sobre las posibilidades del archivo puede tener un sentido reparatorio que -al mismo tiempo- constate que no hay habla subalterna que no contenga ya las lexías de la dominación (Rufer, 2016). Las formas que adopta el archivo en América Latina (y Argentina no es la excepción) están conectados a violencias fundacionales. La quema de códices perpetrada por fray Diego de Landa en Yucatán (quien luego se arrepintió) expone de manera contundente este hecho fundacional. Tras el “fuego purificador”, se desplegó una figura del archivo articulada a la palabra escrita, como condición para propiciar una conquista epistemológica de los pueblos indígenas. Estas reflexiones aspiran a pensar la figura del archivo no como espacio metafórico de extracción, sino como instancia que produce una economía simbólica, abriendo la reflexión respecto de cómo y por medio de qué discursos y soportes las comunidades toman contacto, indagan y dan a conocer la información de las tensiones entre pasado y presente.