Imagine: it is 1936, around 8:00 p.m. Your family lives in Catalunya and you start tuning the radio after a day’s work— hoping for some entertainment, music and “instruction”. And, indeed, shortly after 8:00 the evening broadcast opens with a talk by Maria Montessori, the famous pedagogue – who realises full well the power and potential of “broad” casting her ideas and ideals.

The minister of education of Catalunya had approached Maria Montessori, who had been living and working in Barcelona for some time, stressing that it was the mothers and fathers who had to grasp the greatness of their little ones – and what better way than to reach them in their homes. Before new Montessori schools get started, the parents need to be fully supportive and understanding of such initiatives. This argument was more than enough for Montessori to take on the challenge and address families via the radio. Maria Montessori, who had just started her campaign to promote the Social Party of the Child, gladly accepted the invitation. This was also a way to promote the Oxford Congress themed “The Child’s Place in Society”. Her broadcasts made a great impression on the minds and hearts of the Catalan people but ended abruptly because of Montessori’s flight from the Spanish civil war.