Linking theory and technique in a systems approach to learning problems in disadvantaged children

The paper describes a programme for disadvantaged children with learning problems (due to factors other than cognitive deficits), at the University of Cape Town (UCT) Child Guidance Clinic, developed in the absence of subsidised services for children in need of remediation of scholastic skills. In collaboration with teacher trainees from the Cape Technikon, the programme intervenes on a cognitive and an emotional level. The learning problem is conceptualised in the context of the dysfunctional systems in which the children have been raised - the post apartheid socio-cultural environment, the family and the school. The paper illustrates the complexities in working with learning problems and focuses on the emotional aspects of the problem in particular. It highlights the importance of the development of the capacity to self regulate, and the containment of feelings in all the systems involved - the family, the school and the staff in the program. The aim is to further each child's ability to learn, in relation to his potential.