Patrick Sibanda - Faculty of Applied Social Sciences, Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe

The purpose of this review was to examine the constituents of a disharmonious learning situation in the context of orthodidactic practice with a view of demonstrating how each one effectively contributes to a disharmonious learning environment. The motivation behind this thrust was that future reviews or research will focus on how these constituents can be best managed. The review established six main constituents namely disharmonious pedagogical relationship, incorrectly anticipated lesson plans, inadequate actualisation of cognitive potentialities, deficient learning effect, lived experience of being different and affective distress. A literature review exposed that these are intractably related to the manifestations of learning difficulties. As such the ensuing literature analysis revealed that the constituents of a disharmonious learning situation, in effect, present themselves as a result of lack of synchrony between and among the essences of the lesson structure coupled with the dynamics of the social interrelationships that characterize the teaching/ learning environment. From the analysis, it was concluded that the constituents of a disharmonious learning situation are at the core of the pedagogy of learning difficulties and therefore are the central focus of orthodidactics as a science of helping a child in distress. The constituents further suggest that a disharmonious learning situation is not only about the child needing help but also about a need to capacitate the teacher to be able to offer effective help to the child in distress.The purpose of this review was to examine the constituents of a disharmonious learning situation in the context of orthodidactic practice with a view of demonstrating how each one effectively contributes to a disharmonious learning environment. The motivation behind this thrust was that future reviews or research will focus on how these constituents can be best managed. The review established six main constituents namely disharmonious pedagogical relationship, incorrectly anticipated lesson plans, inadequate actualisation of cognitive potentialities, deficient learning effect, lived experience of being different and affective distress. A literature review exposed that these are intractably related to the manifestations of learning difficulties. As such the ensuing literature analysis revealed that the constituents of a disharmonious learning situation, in effect, present themselves as a result of lack of synchrony between and among the essences of the lesson structure coupled with the dynamics of the social interrelationships that characterize the teaching/ learning environment. From the analysis, it was concluded that the constituents of a disharmonious learning situation are at the core of the pedagogy of learning difficulties and therefore are the central focus of orthodidactics as a science of helping a child in distress. The constituents further suggest that a disharmonious learning situation is not only about the child needing help but also about a need to capacitate the teacher to be able to offer effective help to the child in distress.

Disharmonious learning situation, Orthodidactics, Learning difficulties, Child in distress