It’s interesting that teachers from thousands of miles away are now looking at the calendar of a Spanish organization before making plans for their own school year. It’s not flashy. There is no summit declaration or UN mandate behind it. OMEP Spain’s annual activities calendar is just a calendar, but for more and more early childhood educators in Latin America, it’s becoming more and more like a professional compass.
A lot of countries have their own chapters of OMEP, which stands for the World Organization for Early Childhood Education. Spain’s chapter has been active for a long time, but something has changed in the last few years. The yearly calendar they put out with information about campaigns, holidays, professional development themes, and advocacy priorities has begun to travel. It is being used by teachers in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and Chile. Changing it up. At 6 a.m., I shared it in WhatsApp groups for preschool teachers.
You should ask why. There is a gap in early childhood education that many people in the field have been aware of for years: preschools and other early childhood programs still don’t have the same structured professional guidance systems that elementary and secondary schools do. A well-organized calendar from a well-known group doesn’t sound like much. In reality, though, it gives teachers a sense that their work is part of a bigger, more coordinated effort, which helps them get through the school year.
That need really does need to be met right away. Almost half of all children in the world never go to preschool. That number isn’t just a number to teachers in Latin American classrooms that don’t have enough money. Every day, they see it in kids who come to elementary school having missed years of basic development. This is the kind of early learning that helps kids learn language, become curious, and be able to focus on a problem long enough to solve it. Some educators who follow OMEP’s work think that the calendar helps them talk to administrators and policymakers in a way that they might actually understand.
The time is also important. Talks about making pre-primary education more available have been picking up speed around the world. A UN Human Rights Council working group has been writing a possible Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This could eventually make it legal for all children around the world to get free pre-primary and secondary education. It’s still not clear how that process will work or how many states will agree to it. But early childhood educators are now aware of it, and OMEP Spain’s calendar reflects those priorities, giving teachers a way to connect what they’re doing in the classroom to something bigger.
A bit of a surprise, but what’s interesting is how little of this is top-down. No one told Latin American teachers to use Spain’s calendar. Through professional groups and teachers who found it useful and shared it, it spread naturally. That kind of unofficial support is often a better sign of real importance than any official endorsement.
Over time, it’s possible that OMEP Spain’s influence will become more organized, allowing national chapters to work together more directly. It could also stay the same: a useful, carefully chosen resource that teachers use because it helps them do their jobs with a little more purpose. People in Bogotá and Guadalajara are talking about a calendar that was made in Madrid. This says something important about the direction of early childhood education and the person who is quietly leading the way.
