International drives around children’s mathematics education in the early 20th century through the testimony of Margarida Comas Camps

Margarita Comas Camps’ (1892-1972) contributions in the years 1915-1934 to the issue of children’s mathematical education offer a remarkable perspective on the international panorama of these studies and proposals in the early decades of the 20th century. Like many other young Spanish scholars, in the 1920s she had the opportunity to travel as a graduate student in Great Britain and France thanks to scholarships from the council Junta de Ampliación de Estudios (JAE), a state institution inspired by the political-cultural program of the Europeanization of Spain. What were the research and action prospects that were offered to a young scholar in the years between the two world wars? Comas Camps developed a methodical work of documentation, supported by her study abroad, which constitutes a valuable historiographical source. Through her testimony we can examine both the intersection of proposals and studies from various national contexts, the varied contribution expressed by mathematical and pedagogical environments, and the attention to different aspects such as teaching methodology, the psychology of learning, and the nature of mathematical knowledge and its role in modern life