the teacher was saying and following through with experimentation on their own. My goals and objectives were to support the director of the school and the student instructor in our mutual aim of enlarging the experience and understanding of the children in the area of ceramics. My own high interest in this area made these objectives easy to carry out, as my own enthusiasm was high on this particular day. Actually I would have loved to be a four-year old myself and be a participant as well as an assistant instructor.
My resources for this particular activity included my own great interest in aesthetic objects and the processes that create them. I was greatly interested in the well-being of the children and in acting cooperatively with the preschool director and the ceramics instructor. Other resources included knowledge of Southwestern American Indian pottery from travels in the Southwest, reading I had done on the subject of ceramics, and knowledge of the developmental needs of children of the ages four and five.
Various observations and reflections came to me during the course of this enriching outing for myself and the children. Some of these observations were regarding my own responses to the event, and some were concerning the actions of the young teacher and the responses of the eight children. I noticed that the teacher did not in any way talk down to the children in a condescending manner. She behaved with as much decor as any docent with a major metropolitan museum, and the children seemed to respond accordingly with respect and enthusiastic involvement.
The ceramics instructor began her presentation with a brief look of actual pottery. Although the pieces she selected were authentic, old, and quite valuable, she encouraged the children to touch them and note the feel of fine ceramic work. Within myself I had to commend her for her trust in the integrity of the children such that she would present actual pi...