Students' challenging behaviour is a persisting problem in some primary schools. In South African primary schools, however, students' challenging behaviour is mainly understood as disruptive classroom behaviour. To establish how primary schools experience this phenomenon, interviews were held with twenty-one participants, purposively selected from…

The dominant 'heterosexual script' positions men as sexually desiring subjects who initiate sex and use active displays of power to attract women, and women as passive sexual objects who use indirect means to attract men (e.g. physical appearance). While much research has highlighted how this script is deployed in high school settings, less work…

In this paper, we contribute to the understandings of young masculinities by turning attention to the South African schooling primary school context. In the context of scarcity of interventions around violence in the primary school, we focus on how young boys construct, negotiate and experience violence. Notwithstanding dominant discourses around…

Violent crimes and domestic violence are notoriously high in South Africa, which leaves many children defenceless to struggle with emotions such as loneliness and sadness. The healthy development and socialisation of children can be difficult in a society characterised by domestic tribulations, poverty, crime, single-parent homes, and absent…

In this article, we draw on data from focus group discussions to examine the ways in which some young boys in a South African township primary school construct and negotiate hegemonic masculinity through bullying, and other forms of violence, within the school. Deviating from the simplistic victim-bully binary, we draw from critical masculinity…

The aim of this article is to discuss the dynamics of gang involvement by considering the social reproduction perspective and resistance theory literature and by examining general perceptions of learners and adults who regularly experience gang violence. In a study utilising quantitative and qualitative design, a questionnaire was administered to…

Girls' vulnerability to sexual violence and harassment is a recurrent theme in much of the literature on schooling in sub-Saharan Africa. Within this research, girls are often framed as passive victims of violence. By drawing on a case study, this paper focuses on 12 to 13-year-old South African school girls as they mediate and participate in…

Victims' experiences of learner challenging behaviour in South African primary schools are an ongoing problem that is cause for concern, where additionally, the parents of the perpetrators are unapologetic, and defending their wrongdoing. In this scenario, there is little teachers can do to address ill-disciplined learners. In effect, teacher…

The purpose of this study was to explore and assess the feasibility of counselling based on life-design principles in enhancing the career resilience of children who are exposed to family violence. The research project involved a qualitative-quantitative mode of inquiry with 6 participants chosen based on certain characteristics.…

In the present study, we examine the personal belief in a just world (PBJW) for teachers and learners in predominantly Afrikaans-speaking South African schools, and the relationship between teachers' PBJW and their perception of problem behaviour in the classroom. The study is informed by national debates of school violence in South African…

This paper explores how teachers in a poor township primary school in South Africa construct meaning regarding gender violence among children, and how they talk about addressing that violence. The paper argues that major influences on the endemic violence include complex societal structures that are inscribed with cultures of violent…

How might Life Skills be conceptualised in the Foundation Phase of schooling when a tradition of feminist literature has revealed the regulation, denial and the silencing of both gender and sexuality in early childhood? This article presents one Grade 2 teacher's perspective of addressing sexuality education in an impoverished township primary…

This article is based on findings drawn from a large-scale study aimed at mapping barriers to education in the context of social disadvantage. The research sites focused on in this paper are: one early childhood facility, four primary schools and the communities of these learning centres. Participants included learners, teachers, caregivers and…

Responses to AIDS have often neglected children. Drawing on a qualitative study of young children aged 7-9 years, this paper draws attention to their understandings of HIV and AIDS. It is argued that young children are able to give meaning to the disease in ways that link to their social contexts, where gender inequalities and sexual violence are…

This article focuses on the construction of gender identities among young boys and girls in a black primary school. Against the backdrop of food insecurity, young boys' and girls' vulnerability to violence and to using violence as a means of getting food is increased. Violence is a clear manifestation of gender inequalities. Drawing on data…