Vol. 00. No.0 (0000), 000 ISSN: 1823-884x Ignoring Learners: An Exploration of Coping Strategies among Stressed Teachers in Rural Secondary Schools in the Vhembe District Israel C. Mulaudzi; Azwidohwi P. Kutame; Mandla M Hlongwane; Kehinde Clement, Lawrence ABSTRACT (Abstracyt in Bahasa Melayu should come first) ABSTRACT This study examined the coping strategies used by stressed teachers in the rural secondary schools in the Vhembe district, Limpopo province, South Africa. Being a qualitative design, eight rural secondary school teachers were purposively selected from three randomly selected schools. The individual interview technique was used to collect data from the participants. The findings revealed that the teachers in the rural secondary schools commonly used avoidance, personal resilience and problem-focused stress coping strategies to deal with stress; furthermore, effective teacher stress management strategies do not necessarily improve teaching performance, as factors such as a lack of teaching facilities, poor teacher remuneration, learner absenteeism, poor infrastructure and poverty, among other factors that are not addressed. The study concludes that the stressful nature of the teaching profession should be communicated earlier to prospective in-service teachers prior to graduation or the commencement of one’s teaching career. In addition, rural teachers should be trained on how to transform stressful experiences into opportunities through the application of the identified stress-coping strategies, thus promoting the development of robust personal resources for teaching effectiveness and the realisation of education objectives. Keywords: Coping strategies, ignoring learners, rural secondary schools, stressed teachers. INTRODUCTION Central to the goals of the educational system in any nation of the world is the effectiveness of the teaching and learning processes, the role that is solely vested on teachers. Teaching, being a rewarding profession, is accompanied by social respect and dignity. Teaching can sometimes be challenging due to its complex nature that is beyond just transmitting information, but also ensuring that the knowledge, skills and attitudes required by individual learners to become successful and competent citizens are acquired so that they will be able to navigate through the challenges of life (Collie et al. 2015; Guerriero 2017; Viac & Fraser 2020). Teachers are the front- line workers with multiple responsibilities, ranging from developing lesson plans, promoting learning activities by delivering evidence-based instruction, managing learners behaviour both