Structure without Authoritarianism: School Discipline as a Condition for Inquiry-Based Science Learning in Primary Education

Inquiry-based science education is commonly associated with autonomy, exploration, and student voice, whereas school discipline is often associated with compliance and teacher control. This conceptual opposition obscures the regulatory conditions under which primary pupils can inquire safely, equitably, and productively. Drawing on research in inquiry learning, classroom structure, scientific argumentation, dialogic teaching, and self-regulation, this integrative review argues that inquiry requires discipline but not authoritarianism. Discipline is reconceptualised as the purposeful coordination of material activity, time, participation, evidence, and responsibility. The article proposes an Inquiry Discipline Framework comprising five interdependent domains: material and safety discipline; procedural and temporal discipline; collaborative and dialogic discipline; epistemic discipline; and self-regulatory discipline. It then maps these domains onto the phases of orientation, conceptualisation, investigation, conclusion, discussion, and reflection. The analysis distinguishes transparent, purpose-bound structure from controlling practice and explains how regulation can move from teacher direction through co-regulation towards pupil self-regulation. Primary science examples demonstrate how non-negotiable safety boundaries can coexist with consequential pupil choice in experimental design, representation, and explanation. The framework also highlights equity, language, and access to epistemic roles as central disciplinary concerns. Implications are developed for lesson planning, assessment, teacher education, curriculum implementation, and research. The article concludes that the relevant alternative to authoritarian discipline is not permissiveness but structured participation: boundaries are educationally legitimate when they protect inquiry and expand pupils’ capacity to undertake its intellectual work.