Explanations and Applications
Time-out is a behavioural management
technique which is used in different behaviour
approaches for different purposes.
William Glasser’s problem solving child centred approach
takes an educational perspective, and advocates that when
students choose anti-social behaviour they should be
guided to take a period of time out to cool off until they
are ready to return to learning (Glasser, 1990).
However most literature about time-out comes from the more teacher
dominated Applied Behaviour Analysis theory where it is promoted as a
behaviour modification technique, and is widely used by teachers as an
intervention to decrease disruptive behaviour. Bill Rogers “Positive
Discipline Programme” is a more interactive behavioural approach as it
emphasizes relationships and involves teachers and students working
together as a group to provide rules and consequences.
The Applied Behaviour Analysis Approach is commonly used
to decrease disruptive behaviour so it is pertinent to look at
the uses of time out from a behaviourist perspective.
Behaviour continues
if it earns what the
person wants.
To stop behaviour
you must stop it
from working.
To stop the behaviour you must either:
Punish the behaviour
Or
Reward another more acceptable
behaviour
Smart teachers do both!
For time-out to work
The punishing situation must be
less positive than time in!
Other wise the
challenging
behaviour will be
rewarding for the
student.
Some Little Known Facts About Time-out
Time-out is not intended to be punitive
Time-out is not always isolated.
Time-out is time-out from reinforcement,
not necessarily from the classroom.
There are 3 kinds of time-out
(Alberto & Troutman, 1999)
Non-Exclusionary Time-out
The student remains in the classroom but is temporarily
prevented from taking part in reinforcing activities
through withdrawal of materials or attention (planned
ignoring). 1 – 5 minutes is long enough to be effective.
Exclusion
The student is removed to another part of the room
and cannot watch or take part in activities – 5
minutes approximately.
Isolation/Seclusion
•An adult should always
supervise.
•No longer than 15
minutes.
•Non rewarding activities
The student is removed
entirely from the classroom
to a buddy room or a
separate time-out room. Bill
Rogers calls this “cooling off
time” (Rogers 1994).
•Plans for exiting and
returning to class.
•Should be part of a
clearly understood
classroom plan, and only
employed when less
intrusive strategies have
failed.
The student’s behaviour is either serving the
function of gaining something desirable or
avoiding something undesirable.
Therefore if the time-out serves either of these
functions it will not be effective.
Taking a functional assessment of the
instructional environment to determine
those variables that are maintaining
the behaviour and whether time-out
would be the most effective sanction
to remove those variables.
For example if peer attention is
maintaining the behaviour, then timeout is an appropriate strategy
But!
If the behaviour is caused by variables related
to the task factors then curriculum adaptation
is a more appropriate intervention.
As time-out is a negative behavioural strategy
which is a consequence to an undesirable
behaviour, it is most effective when it operates
alongside a positive behavioural strategy which
targets the desired behaviour.
So when students
call out there is a
consequence, and
putting up their
hand is rewarded.
Time-out is only effective if “time-in” is
rewarding for the student.
So time-out
works best
when
students
really value
the time in.
The behavioural principles of low
intensity and high frequency
apply to time-out.
Therefore
Non exlusionary time-out
should be used :
•Contingently
•Immediately
•Consistently
•Abundantly
So that students
have plenty of
opportunities to
ensure that the
challenging
behaviour is not
rewarding for them,
and they will choose
a more rewarding
behaviour.
Seclusionary time-out is only
effective when:
1. It is well planned and occurs
as the bottom-line sanction of a
well-documented continuum of
steps. There is no
accompanying emotive
language, and there is an
opportunity for the student and
the teacher to repair and rebuild
relationships (Rogers 1995).
2. It takes place in pleasant surroundings and
gives the student a chance to regain self
control and reflect on their choice of
behaviour (Glasser 1990).
3. It interrupts behaviour that has the
potential to increase in severity and cause
harm to others thus compromising the life
chances of the student (McLeod 1998).
If teachers do not follow a plan consistently there is
a danger that stress will cause them to react
emotionally to continued challenging behaviour, and
implement time-out procedures out of sequence with
punitive overtones (McLeod, 1998).
Teachers stress is more likely when their personal
philosophies embrace deficit thinking, which results in
emotive blaming strategies. In these instances where the
teacher who is the prime reinforcer withholds commodities
that are valued by the student in an inconsistent reactionary
way, there are ethical issues around misuse of power and
abuse of civil rights.
When teachers don’t understand the
principles of time-out the strategy is open
to abuse and several ethical issues arise.
1. Every student has a right to
equitable access to education.
2. There can be a misuse of teacher power.
3. Cultural values can be compromised.
In Conclusion
Time-out will not
be effective
when:
Teachers have limited understanding of
behavioural techniques, and a belief that
controlling student behaviour requires ever
more punitive consequences. Punitive use of
time-out is likely to cause a major interruption
to student learning, and have little effect on
behavioural outcomes.
Time out can be an effective strategy when :
Teachers
conceptualise timeout as time-out from
reinforcement, and
they assess the
function of
problematic
behaviour to identify
those classroom
variables that are
reinforcing and
maintaining the
undesirable
behaviour.
Teachers hypothesise
that removing those
classroom variables
will decrease the
frequency and rate of
the behaviour, and
they use low level
minimally intrusive
time-out, contingently,
immediately,
consistently and
abundantly.