Insights for female teachers on managing learner discipline from perceptions of teachers and parents in Vuwani, Limpopo, South Africa

The thrust of this qualitative study is the insights for female teachers about management of learner discipline from three South African primary schools. The sample comprised of nine purposively selected participants – heads of departments, teachers, and parents. Individual interviews and thematic analysis were used to generate and analyze data. Findings revealed challenges that were brought about by the abolition of corporal punishment in South African schools, thus, impacting on learner discipline negatively. Insightfully, this study requires female teachers to enforce disciplinary measures without allowing their innate caring nature to suppress enforcement because learners often misrepresent them for weakness. The study concludes that the success of managing learner discipline lie greatly in putting in place rules that ensure orderliness. With it, the punishment or ‘beating’ of learners for what is not wrong but for what teachers do not like in some instances could be avoided.