An Educator With Vision

By John O'Halloran

Published in THE AUSTRALIAN, 31 July 1996

Teacher, educationalist. Born Kalgoorlie, January 24, 1938. Died Sydney, July 25, aged 58.

The Montessori philosophy holds that education is a developmental process involving every aspect of life and that a child has the capacity, under the right conditions, to take control of that process. Patricia Hilson was a world leader in the development and practice of that philosophy.

Many people will have heard of Montessori and some may know of its principles, but few who are not involved in early childhood education could be aware of the pivotal role Hilson played in the rebirth of Montessori education in Australia and its resurgence in the 1980s and 1990s.

Born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, in 1938, the second of five children, Hilson was educated in Perth and graduated from Graylands Teachers College with a teacher's certificate.

Degrees and diplomas from studies at the University of Western Australia, the NSW Conservatorium of Music, Churchlands College of Advanced Education and Canberra University followed, and she was awarded a masters of education from Canberra University in 1988.

She commenced her career as a teacher in a Perth senior secondary school at the age of 19 and in vivid terms has described the stifling educational atmosphere then prevailing.

She specialised in music teaching and was an accomplished musician, obtaining her licentiate in violin and winning a violin competition in Perth in 1961. She also performed regularly with orchestras in London, Perth, Sydney and Canberra.

In 1972 Hilson moved to London with her family. There she had the opportunity to immerse herself in the educational philosophy of Dr Maria Montessori, which had attracted her during her initial teaching studies.

She graduated from the Maria Montessori Training Organisation with a diploma in Montessori early childhood teacher education in 1974 and, with characteristic energy, soon established her own Montessori preschool in Battersea, London.

She then undertook the elementary Montessori teacher education course in Bergamo, Italy, conducted by the Association Montessori internationale.

Having obtained her second diploma, she was accepted into the AMI Trainer of Trainers Program. In 1990 she became the first and only AMI-accredited Australian director of training and, until her death, the only AMI-accredited trainer in the southern hemisphere.

She returned with her family to Australia in 1980 and became active in the Montessori communities in Perth, Canberra and Sydney.

An event of major importance was the establishment of the Montessori Teachers College in Sydney in 1983. Hilson was instrumental in this initiative and was involved in the first three courses, as trainer in training (1983-84), co-ordinator (1986) and assistant principal (1988).

After being appointed Australian director of training, she continued to conduct courses in Sydney as principal of the college. A course in Melbourne in 1993 was her last. Since the formation of the college in 1983, 79 students have graduated through these courses.

Hilson lectured extensively throughout Australia and New Zealand. She was an inspirational speaker, her eloquence matching her insight into the process of education in the child and the developmental needs of the human personality.

It is unfortunate she did not have the opportunity to publish more extensively, for her masters thesis reveals her gift for sustained and powerful thought. This important work analyses and explains the acquisition of literacy. It is a rare achievement because it bases its conclusions on painstaking primary research.

Hilson was ceaselessly active in the Montessori community. She established a professional development service for teachers, acted as consultant in the design and programming of conferences and workshops, was a consultant to schools and teachers, founded an alumni association of the teachers college, and formed and led the Montessori Professional Group, a specialist advisory body with a charter to promote Montessori philosophy and educational practice.

She also wrote or co-authored many submissions to government departments and early childhood educational authorities.

One measure of her contribution to the Montessori philosophy and to educational practice was the reversal of sentiment since 1980, when the principal of a leading early childhood educational organisation wrote that "to introduce Montessori teacher education would be to lower Australian standards for preparing the educators of young children". But 12 years later, the Montessori Teachers College was invited by Macquarie University to include the AMI diploma as an option in the fourth year of its bachelors degree in education.

"Montessori education has gained its recognition because of the quality of what it delivers in the community," Hilson said. "Practice is there for all to see."

She, more than anyone else, was responsible for achieving that quality. While she accomplished so much, she was seriously ill with cancer. There was no bravado, but a calm determination to carry out her important work as long as her strength remained.

Earlier this year she accepted AMI's invitation to act as external examiner for Korea and Japan and, in one of the increasingly brief periods of remission from her illness, she visited those countries in March to officiate at the final examinations and graduation of students.

In her last public address, delivered to the alumni of the Tokyo Montessori Institute, Hilson referred to her teaching experiences as a journey - one that ends at the discovery of the child and reverently gives back to the child the responsibility and dignity of initiating his or her own learning.

But, as she observed, this requires the adult to discover that the obstacle to the development of the child lies within the adult and that the answer is in the child. In this discovery lies the potential for the personal growth and spiritual development of both.

The discovery and the teaching of these truths was Hilson's life work. Her outstanding qualities - integrity, vision, love of truth, a refusal to compromise essentials and sensitivity - are summed up by Renilde Montessori, the director-general of AMI and grand-daughter of Dr Maria Montessori: "For me, personally, Pat always will remain the one and only Montessori presence in Australia, a symbol of integrity, intelligence and incredible courage."

Patricia Hilton is survived by her husband Barry, daughter Jane and son Dean.

Solicitor John O'Halloran has held several positions with Montessori organisations and was a foundation member of the Montessori Professional Group.