Humanity has always valued practical and reliable things that are also quite cheap to produce. This also includes dishes. Since ancient times, the main materials for it have been wood and clay, which humanity has mastered for thousands of years. Gradually, the production of tableware became a separate specialization and craft - pottery.
Oddly enough, in the modern plastic age, clay and ceramic dishes have not lost their relevance. It is still valued for its aesthetic qualities, practicality and durability.
A profession that does not lose its relevance
Pottery craft originated thousands of years ago. According to scientists, clay processing was mainly carried out by women, who, since Neolithic times, had been involved in arranging everyday life.
And with the development of scientific and technological progress, various devices for working with clay appear. The most important of them was, of course, the potter's wheel. Today, the process of creating tableware is almost completely automated and is performed using special equipment. And it would seem that the need for potters - masters of working with clay - completely disappeared. But this is not true at all.
Pottery workshops still exist and are in demand among the population. Perhaps they are not as popular and in demand as before the advent of pottery technology, and are even more elitist in nature, but this change does not affect the very essence of the work and its relevance, it only adds a nuance. So, for example, potters can create completely unique products and not strive to make them the same, because buyers will be looking for uniqueness.
Responsibilities of a potter
The list of responsibilities of a potter can include the following:
creating products from clay;
maintenance of equipment used for work;
checking the quality of the received products.
A specialist will be able to perform these duties if he has the following knowledge:
types of clay mass, their features;
methods and techniques for working with equipment;
rules for operating equipment and carrying out repair work.
Requirements for a potter
There is some misconception that anyone can be allowed to work with a pottery wheel. However, first of all, the potter needs to learn how to work safely with it.
In addition, since during work the potter often works in a dusty and poorly lit room, he must first undergo a medical commission and confirm the absence of contraindications for this type of activity. For example, working in a pottery workshop is strictly contraindicated for people with asthma and other pulmonary diseases.
Where can I learn to be a potter?
Today, pottery is more of an artistic craft that requires a developed aesthetic taste from the performer. Therefore, such specialists are most often taught in art schools. Moreover, these are not always technical colleges or schools; there are separate courses in higher educational institutions.
The basics of working with clay are also taught at various courses at educational centers. But most often here pottery is more of a hobby and therapeutic exercise. They can hardly be considered training in a profession, but such classes can stimulate initial interest in it. Moreover, this is the easiest way to gain basic knowledge - such courses do not require any general education certificates or any other specialties.
The most optimal option for mastering the pottery craft is considered to be working as an apprentice. Under the supervision of an experienced potter, you can master the profession much faster than in a technical school. In addition, a pottery workshop provides immediate employment with a small salary.
Grades of the potter profession
The profession of a potter is classified as a worker and exists in the Unified Tariff and Qualification Directory of Works and Working Professions (ETKS). There are a total of five qualification levels that determine the skill of a potter.
Potter 2nd category
Performs preparatory work, his activities are supervised by a more experienced specialist.
Potter 3rd category
Can work both manually and on special machines.
Potter 4th category
Creates simple artistic products.
Potter 5th category
Can create complex products using samples and pottery machines.
Potter 6th category
Creates products that have attached elements.
Prospects for career growth and development of a potter
On the one hand, this profession has no boundaries for the self-development of a specialist, raising the level of his technology and creative flight. On the other hand, a modern potter does not have any career ladder. Unless he can create his own business and increase it, but here everything is more about business skills than about skill.
Personal qualities of the potter profession
In order to work as a potter, you must have the following qualities and character traits:
artistic taste;
color perception;
good vision;
developed motor skills;
desire for self-improvement;
hard work;
responsibility;
discipline;
criticality of perception.
Salary level for the potter profession
The salary of a potter is quite difficult to calculate. If a master works for himself and specializes in individual orders, he can earn large sums. When working for hire, everything also depends on the number of completed orders and their complexity.
Pros and cons of the potter profession
The list of positive aspects of the profession should include:
the opportunity to create and develop artistic skills;
prospects for developing your own skills;
the opportunity to open your own workshop;
the opportunity to learn a profession from an experienced specialist.
The disadvantages include:
difficult working conditions;
in general, the majority of specialists have a low level of income.
The potter's profession originated in time immemorial and quickly entered the list of the most honorable, along with weavers, gunsmiths, millers and other specialists, without whose labor neither the peasant nor the king could do. At that time, clay dishes were available in absolutely every home, since they were affordable and had many advantages over other types of dishes.
First steps
The roots of pottery go back to the Neolithic era. It was then that people discovered such properties of clay as the ability to not allow water to pass through after drying and to become hard when fired. In addition, it was lighter than stones, more accessible and more durable than nut shells and shells. Scientists believe that handmade ceramics was the invention of women, because they had to think about how to prepare the mammoth hunted by men and preserve the collected berries, mushrooms, and roots. At first, they simply coated baskets with clay or made bundles of clay and placed them on top of each other. These ancestors of "ware" were not durable, but still opened up a wider scope for use than just a basket.
How did people come up with the idea of firing clay? Most likely, like many discoveries, the first time it happened completely by accident. But someone noticed the fire resistance of clay, and realized how this property could be used to benefit humanity.
Scientific and technical progress
At first, dishes were made strictly by hand, practically without the use of any tools. The pots were decorated with ritual patterns. Then the potter's wheel was invented, and then the division of labor occurred. It was at this time that the first potters appeared - people who devoted their time to making dishes, which they then sold, providing for the needs of everyone.
The first pottery wheels appeared at the end of the fourth millennium BC and were manually operated. Then the technology became more complex and the foot circle was invented. This device gave the craftsman the opportunity to shape the dishes with his hands, while rotating the circle by pressing the pedal with his feet. The dishes of different potters began to differ in the subtleties of their manufacturing technology, and the mark of the master manufacturer began to be placed on them.
When humanity mastered electricity, the potter's wheel began to move with its help. However, some potters to this day prefer exclusively manual labor, which is why pottery is not just a product, but a work of art into which the master has invested his labor and soul. One master never has two identical bowls or teapots.
Company secrets
Potters carefully guarded the secret of their art. Each of them had treasured places where they mined different types of clay. They were called “Kopans” and guarded themselves from their competing neighbors.
At first, this profession, like many others, was a family one, and skill was passed on from father to son, but then this was recognized as ineffective, because the sons may not have wanted to do the same thing as the father, or simply did not have the talent for it. Then the masters began to recruit students to whom he passed on all the secrets of his art. They gradually became apprentices and then masters. Later, potters began to unite into guilds and artels.
Now anyone can try themselves as a potter. During the holidays, in many ancient cities of Russia, special master classes are held for adults and children, where they can sculpt something on a real potter’s wheel. These “demonstration performances” help people not to forget about such a beautiful, centuries-old profession as the potter and his difficult and wonderful craft.
Irina Sdobaeva
Theme: "Profession - potter."
Target: Introduce children to the potter's profession.
Tasks:
Educational: expand children’s ideas about professions; introduce the potter’s profession and the specifics of his work; develop a desire to work together with an adult; introduce children to the process of making dishes from clay.
Developmental: develop the desire to work together with an adult, develop responsibility for carrying out work assignments, leading to the result of one’s work; develop associative thinking and imagination in children; activate the dictionary on the topic “Professions”.
Educational: to cultivate respect for the work of adults, careful attitude to the results of their work, to continue to cultivate a love for folk crafts and traditions.
Types of children's activities: playful, productive, communicative, cognitive-research, musical and artistic, perception of fiction.
Preliminary work: conversation about professions, looking at pictures about working with clay, reading poems about professions, reading proverbs about work, looking at paintings with this theme.
Planned results: knows how to hold conversations about professions, expresses his point of view, actively and kindly interacts with the teacher and peers in solving gaming and cognitive problems.
Equipment and materials: a tablet for demonstrating a video, a picture depicting a potter, household utensils made of clay, pictures depicting objects that are needed for the work of a cook, potter, carpenter.
Methods and techniques: visual methods and techniques (play, looking at a picture); verbal methods and techniques (use of riddles, literary words, teacher’s story, conversation, instructions and explanations in the educational process of educational activities, summing up assessment of children’s activity).
1. Introductory conversation.
Guys, what is a profession? This is work to which a person devotes his entire life. Today we will talk about a profession that you are not yet familiar with. Who do you think made all these clay objects? Guys, this profession is called a potter. A potter is a craftsman who makes clay or ceramic dishes. Look at the picture of a potter at work. (examination)
A potter's tool is a potter's wheel and skillful hands. Now we will watch a film and you will see and observe the work of a potter.
2. Watching video, on which he works like a potter with explanations for children. (5 minutes).
3 Physical education lesson “Dishes”
Here is a large glass teapot,
(“Inflate” the belly, one hand on the belt)
Very important, like a boss.
(The other is curved like a spout)
Here are the porcelain cups
(Squat, one hand on the belt)
Very fragile, poor things.
Here are the porcelain saucers,
(Spin around, drawing a circle with your hands)
Just knock and they will break.
Here are the silver spoons
(Stretch, clasp your hands above your head)
Here's a plastic tray -
He brought us the dishes.
(Make a big circle)
4. Conversation on the viewed plot.
The potter from the workshop is a true professional. This means that he knows his work well, he is very skilled and makes very complex and beautiful works from clay.
Guys, what do you call the person you saw on the screen?
What tools does a potter need to work? - Potter's wheel.
What else does a master need? – a bowl of water; cloth; stack or wooden stick, fishing line. (the teacher accompanies the children’s answers by showing subject pictures).
The resulting product must be dried, then you can apply the design. And in order for a jug or pot to become suitable for use in everyday life, it still needs to be fired in a special oven. And after that you will get products like this.
5. Examination of clay products.
(the children, studying the jugs, determined that the glazed jug was cold, and the plain one was warmer).
6. Didactic game “Who needs what for work”
Three types of subject pictures depicting objects and tools for the work of a cook, potter, carpenter. Children sort out what tools a cook needs, place pictures of a cook around them, similarly for a carpenter and a potter.
7. Reflection.
What profession did you meet? Do you think the potter's profession is important? Who would like to become a potter?
Guys, listen to a beautiful poem about a potter.
Potter sitting at a workbench
And crushes a soft lump with his hands,
Spinning on a disk
And the lump becomes a pot,
Jug or bowl.
So that the clay becomes hard,
So that the water leaves it,
There are pots and mugs
On shelves to dry.
And in order to become beautiful
Red clay pot,
After drying it, we must
Cover with clear glaze.
Now it's time to burn the pot, -
And for the first time he goes into the oven.
The pot comes out of the fire
More rosy and beautiful
Ready from tomorrow
Cook borscht and porridge.
(Excerpt from the poem “A Fun Journey from A to Z.” by S. Ya. Marshak)
Our lesson is over, well done.
Publications on the topic:
Summary of continuous educational activities to familiarize yourself with the outside world for children of the middle group “Theater” Summary of continuous educational activities for children of the middle group to familiarize themselves with the world around them Prepared and conducted by Sadovaya.
Summary of nodes on familiarization with the outside world and speech development for children of the middle group on the topic “TREES”
Summary of educational activities for familiarizing children with the world around them in the middle group “Spring holidays. March 8" Summary of direct educational activities to familiarize children with the surrounding world with middle group children. "Spring holidays!"
Summary of educational activities for familiarization with the outside world “Profession of pastry chef” (middle group) Goal: to introduce children to the profession of a pastry chef. with his professional actions. Educational objectives: expand ideas.
Summary of educational activities for familiarizing yourself with the outside world in the middle group “Acquaintance with the fauna of the seas and rivers” Summary of educational activities for familiarization with the environment in the middle group “Acquaintance with the fauna of the seas and rivers” Purpose: Formation of ideas about the underwater.
From a technology point of view (the technical side of the issue), the above classes of pottery production are similar, however, during the manufacturing process, different types of clay are used for the final product, and each is distinguished by its own specific production features.
History of pottery
Initially, pottery production was a craft used for preparing vessels for food or for preserving liquid and granular bodies; but over time it developed and was enriched with new items of manufacture, namely refractory bricks, stoneware, tiles, tiles, drainage pipes, architectural decorations and similar products.
Due to the fact that in the process of development of society, some clay products learned to be specially finished and decorated, their production moved from the field of craft to the field of art - ceramics. The production of clay pots was known in ancient times, when people became familiar with the properties of clay, a very common material on our planet.
Firing products made from ceramic materials can be carried out using various methods, but the most traditional method is firing in a kiln.
During the firing process, irreversible changes occur in pre-formed and glazed products - only after firing does the original material become ceramic. Under the influence of high temperature in the slip, larger particles sinter or fuse at the points of their contact (contact) with each other. In the case of porcelain production, where materials with different physical, chemical, mineralogical properties of the components and higher firing temperatures are used, only part of the components melts.
In all cases, the materials used for the manufacture of firing objects and the heat treatment regime must comply with the production technology. The following temperature ranges are generally used as a rough guide:
- firing clay products from approximately 1000 °C (1830 °F) to 1200 °C (2190 °F);
- for ceramic products from approximately 1100 °C (2010 °F) to 1300 °C (2370 °F);
- for porcelain products approximately 1200 °C (2190 °F) to 1400 °C (2550 °F).
The maximum temperature and duration of the firing process affect the quality characteristics of the resulting ceramics. The maximum oven temperature was often kept constant for a specified period of time in order to impart the final product with the "manufacturing maturity" required by the underlying material.
In addition, the composition of the atmosphere in the kiln during firing can affect the appearance of the finished product. Oxidizing properties are imparted to the atmosphere inside the furnace by introducing (injecting) air into the furnace. Thus, the firing process can cause oxidation of the clay and glaze. And vice versa: the reducing properties of the atmosphere inside the furnace are reproduced by limiting the air flow into the furnace. In this way it is possible to remove oxygen from the surface of clay and glaze. As a result, the properties of the atmosphere inside the kiln can be adjusted to influence the appearance of the product and to produce complex effects in the glaze. For example, some iron-containing glazes become brown under the influence of the oxidizing properties of the firing atmosphere, and green under the influence of reducing properties.
Kilns can be heated by burning wood, coal and gas or electricity. When using coal and wood as fuel in a stove, a lot of smoke, soot and ash are generated, which can ruin the appearance of unprotected products. For this reason, kilns that use wood or coal as fuel often place a special cage with a lid to protect the pottery inside the box from contamination. Modern stoves, which use gas or electricity as a heat source, are much cleaner and easier to monitor than older wood or coal stoves.
Integrated lesson “Pottery Profession” (cognition, modeling)
Target:
Tasks:
Educational:
Introduce children to the potter's profession
Form an active dictionary in accordance with the lexical topic “Professions”
Expand children's understanding of adult work. Show the meaning and importance of the potter's profession for other people
Educational:
Develop children's coherent speech, teach children to answer questions in complete sentences.
Development of fine motor skills through working with clay
Educational:
Fostering a respectful attitude towards work
Provoke an emotional response, think about whether they would like to become potters
Educational areas: cognition, modeling
Equipment:
Projector
Multimedia presentation
Prepared clay
Modeling boards
Artificial grass for meadow with mushrooms
Preliminary preparation: Learn with children S. Mikhalkov’s poem about labor
Progress of the lesson (35 minutes)
Organizational moment (1 minute)
Setting goals, motivation for activity (5 minutes)
Three children recite a poem by S. Mikhalkov by heart
Who is the most important in the world?
The kindest, the most glorious?
What's his name?
Well, of course,
This is work!
Who is the smartest in the world?
Oldest, youngest?
What's his name?
Well, of course,
This is work!
For all centuries and years
Real
King of nature?
King of the fields
What's his name?
Well, of course,
This is work!
What do you guys think, what will we talk about in our lesson today?
(children's answers: - about work)
That's right, guys. We will talk about work and get acquainted with a new interesting profession.
Main part (15 minutes)
Do your parents work? Where do they go after they drop you off at kindergarten?
(children's answers: - to work)
Questioning several kids about what their parents do?
(doctor, teacher, accountant, salesman, cook, driver, builder, policeman, etc.)
What other professions do you know?
(firefighter, teacher, nurse, architect, plumber, janitor, secretary, president, lumberjack)
You already know a lot of professions! And today we will get acquainted with another profession. This is the profession of a potter. Let's repeat its name together - potter.
What does a potter do? Now we will take an excursion to the potter’s workshop, pay attention to the screen.
Multimedia presentation “The work of a potter”
There will be a file here: /data/edu/files/e1448146531.pptx (profession potter presentation)
Well, guys, did you like the potter's workshop? (Yes)
Do you want to be potters yourself? (Yes)
Well, then put on your aprons and go to the tables. (children sit down)
Physical education lesson “Potters” (1 minute)
Let's rub our hands well,
Grind them until warm.
Let's wash it clean first,
so that the clay doesn't get angry.
Let's stroke them gently
Let's say these words:
“Handles, help hands,
make us a little craft.”
The potter from the workshop is a true professional. This means that he knows his work well, he is very skilled and makes very complex and beautiful works from clay. We are just learning to work with clay, so let's start with something simple. Today we will make mushrooms.
Children's work (10 minutes)
Summary of the lesson (1 minute)
What wonderful mushrooms we got. Now they need to dry thoroughly, this will take a whole week! Then we will paint them and decorate our clearing with them.
Cleaning workplaces (2 minutes)