HONORING A GURU OF PLAY AND CARE

International Day of Play - June 11, 2025

We meet unforgettable gurus in life and I was ever so fortunate to have met one this weekend in Guildford, Surrey, England. Sonya Hilton, an education psychologist steeped in neuroscience has dedicated five glorious decades of her life to serving early years education as sheer experiential practice. She brought up her own four precious children but also learnt up close how to manage children’s diverse needs resiliently and apply many lessons in her career as an early years’ practitioner and guide. She trained and nurtured teachers, educators and parents so that their finest capabilities would unfold for pre-school children whether they were in the county council of Surrey or the villages of Ghana from a systems perspective a model of Fast Track Transformational Teacher Training (FTTT). She is convinced that children need care and nurturing by understanding the science, art and practice of early years learning; the nuts and bolts of how children relate to feelings, moods, family members, surroundings, festivals, animals, environment, food and above all, their own power of play and well-being. To this day, Sonya and her husband gather their children, families and grandchildren to visit Rhossili Bay in Wales, an un-spoilt sanctuary of vast shoreline, water, sand, rocks, spending intentional curated time together to play, express with nature, bond and care. For her, each grandchild is an opportunity to learn from and feel cared for intergenerationally- this is not coincidental but has been an investment of intent and action.

Author of innumerable manuals, preparatory learning packs for parents to get children ready for school through positive parenting and behavior management appreciating nature’s cognitive and emotional wiring, a complete guide to assessment and tools, logical and step by step, Sonya has written lucidly for parents, caregivers, teachers, headteachers and field supervisors working with children of pre-school years for Surrey County Council, Department for Education and Skills (DFES) and Government of Ghana as a volunteer with SABRE Education for 10 years. Each preparatory ‘getting ready’ pack for parents (Surrey County Council) is color coded with appropriate story books and play-to-learn activities with children for building gross and fine motor skills, rhymes, cut outs and colors enriching active vocabularies for school and life. At 89, she remains fit in mind, ideas and body, an absolute inspiration. Sadly, our systems are ever so ready to ‘retire’ perfectly great minds and hearts into oblivion; why? In this age of enabling AI, technology and prolific science, we definitely need to rethink outdated constructs and systems about ‘ageing and retiring mind-sets’ that deprive societies of great social, intellectual and cultural capital. Sonya and her spouse computer modeler/simulator Professor Terry Hinton of Surrey University, steeped in resilient values of post 2nd world war, live contemporary lives fully immersed in technology, rich landscapes and authentic heritage layers of Guildford as a thriving community of care and active civic participation.

I soaked up so much organized layers of practice and knowledge during my 36 hours in the historic Anglo-Saxon town of Guildford (500 AD). Magical guided walks by mother and daughter through the landscapes, rolling hills and river, allowed me to peep in its rich history walking the cobbled streets, its 17th century Guildhall Clock in the High Street and Guildford Castle public gardens used by all for community games, storytelling, theatre and music; where Sonya’s entire family performed in the town. The town is also associated with the famous Lewis Caroll of Alice in Wonderland and has characters from his stories prominently placed by the willows. I learnt about the origins of the cargo pathways of horse drawn carriages carrying goods from England to Europe stopping in Guildford beholding a sea of yellow butter cups on the yellow sands of the river bank. Sonya’s daughter who grew up in Guildford took me to the town through her favorite art and architecture alleys to share living 400+ year traditions of gratitude and care, be it the church, the statues, the hospice/hospital that functions well to this day for women and men in need of care and comfort. With traditions that are lived and honored so well, Sonya must not be ‘retired’ but celebrated visibly in classrooms; in education systems and movements for early years and learning through play.

After my 36 hours in Guildford, I have been re-baptised in the foundational potential of play which is how my grandmother had nurtured in me. “Hima Akhlaque Hussain” was the first Montessori trained educator and author in Pakistan. I am rich and resolved to share Sonya Hinton with our growing local and global community of early years demanding urgent attention and investment to the essential foundational stage for lifelong learning; where equity and well-being in societies can be substantively addressed. My next stop in UK are two important back to back 10 year celebration conferences at Cambridge University’s cutting edge “Play in Education through Development and Learning’ (PEDAL) centre and the ‘Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre, a pioneer research into overcoming barriers to education, such as poverty, gender, ethnicity, both bold on centrality of early learning through play on 11-12th June. I look forward to learning and sharing with many influential communities of practice about early years, teachers’ role in pedagogy for equity, all of which can only be through and with children and deeply caring guru of early learning, our incredible Sonya Hinton!