Ceramics Instruction

A few years ago I worked for part of one year as an assistant to a preschool director who had a specialized program for four and five year olds with an emphasis on expression through the arts. On one occasion, as a part of this job, it was my responsibility to accompany a group of eight four- and five-year-old children on a field trip to the ceramics department of the local art school. This field trip was a part of a larger unit on the theme of "How Things Are Made."

I was the only one to accompany the eight children to the ceramics division of the art school, but within the ceramics studio, a female graduate student made the presentation to the children. At one point during the hour session, the head of the art department came in to say "hello" to us and to see if the graduate student needed any assistance. The purpose of this visit was to give the children some real-world hands-on experience with a professional in the field of ceramics. It was important to the director of the school that each experience of the children help them become acquainted with the world in a way that would help them express themselves creatively.

My role was that of the familiar leader and guide for the children. It was my job to get them to the ceramics studio safely and to see that their emotional and physical needs were met during the experience. The graduate student instructor had complete charge of the presentation and the materials involved, although I did assist her as I un

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per and by pushing in indentations with little tools, the fingernails, and ordinary household objects. It was important and significant to me that this skilled young artist kept a steady pace going with the children. At no time was anyone bored, and discipline problems were non-existent. She obviously loved what she was doing, and her enthusiasm was contagious. I noticed that she treated the children as if they, themselves, were artists whose work was as valuable as that of Maria of San Ildefonso, or any art professional. This attitude, unspoken, gave the children a feeling of intense concentration on what they were doing. Each child turned out a fine piece of work, unique to himself or herself. Although the children gleaned in a very short time a considerable amount of information about the production of pottery, in no way did they copy each other or the examples available, except in the rudimentary technique needed to get the clay to stick together. Although I wanted very much to be a participant and make a clay piece myself, I resisted that impulse and stuck to my role as assistant. I vowed to myself that I would pursue other opportunities to experiment with clay and not rob the children of a quality experience on th

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