The purpose of this study was to describe the content and structure of the thinking of four experienced, but "ordinary," preschool teachers in the area of children's emotions and emotional development. Each study participant had taught in the New Garone Pre-Kindergarten, one of the first New York State Experimental Pre-Kindergartens, for 20 or more years, and all had similar racial and ethnic backgrounds. The results of the study indicated that the four teachers studied did organize their thinking about young children's emotions and emotional development. Their thinking can be considered an implicit or subjective theory in that it is accessible to them, it is stable, it is structured, and it influences their behavior. The findings of this study have implications for the interaction of developmental psychology and education, for curricular programs that promote emotional development in young children's classrooms, and for the work of teacher educators and supervisors in early childhood education. The study concludes that two aspects of the teachers' knowledge system set it apart from scientific or formal theories of emotions: their theory begins with the emotional nature of the child, and emotions are not considered quickly passing passions, but long term underlying processes. (Contains 32 references.) (ND)