Preschool Teachers’ Use of Time‐Out: Is What They Say What They Do?

Abstract

Using triangulation, this study employed two methods to compare whether the responses of early childhood teachers about their use of timeout as a discipline method in focus group discussion was congruent with their behavior from classroom videotapes. The subjects were 5 teachers, who were among a larger group that had participated in one of 6 focus groups and were later videotaped in their preschool classes. These teachers volunteered to be videotaped after they had engaged in the focus groups. In the focus groups, teachers were asked to discuss how they respond to children's misbehaviors and how they make decisions about their responses. The videotapes were subsequently taken during 2 typical mornings in each class. Detailed analyses of the teachers’ use or nonuse of time‐out as well as their rationale for using this method, were undertaken for both focus group responses and behaviors observed on the videotapes. Results showed that the verbal responses of the teachers were very congruent with what they carried out while teaching.

Key words:

• Triangulation
• early childhood teachers
• time‐out
• discipline
• verbal responses
• congruent