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.

 Time-out is not intended to be punitive  Time-out is not always isolated.  There are 3 kinds of time-out (Alberto & Troutman, 1999)  Time-out is time-out from reinforcement, not necessarily from the classroom. Some Little Known Facts About Time-out

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 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). An adult should always supervise. No longer than 15 minutes. Non rewarding activities 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 time- out 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.

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). Seclusionary time-out is only effective when:

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.

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. In Conclusion

Teachers conceptualise time- out 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. Time out can be an effective strategy when : 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.