Schofield, Janet Ward 1946-

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SCHOFIELD, Janet Ward 1946-

PERSONAL: Born May 8, 1946, in Newark, NJ; daughter of William Rankin, Jr. (a physician) and Sarah Ellis (a teacher) Ward; married Douglas Franklin Schofield, III, September 1, 1968; children: Alanya Lynn, Heather Ward, Emily Duncan. Education: Radcliffe College, B.A. (magna cum laude), 1968; Harvard University, M.A., 1969, Ph.D. 1972.

ADDRESSES: Home—319 Nottingham Circle, Pittsburgh, PA 15215. Office—Learning Research and Development Center, Room 517, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15238. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Spelman College, Atlanta, GA, instructor in psychology and sociology, 1969-70; Policy Research Division, Office of Economic Opportunity, Washington, DC, research psychologist, 1972-73; National Institute of Education, Washington, DC, research psychologist, 1973-74; University of Pittsburgh, associate professor, 1974-86, senior scientist, Learning Research and Development Center, 1981—, professor, Social Personality Program, department of psychology, 1986—. Speaker and consultant.

MEMBER: American Psychological Association (executive committee, 1993-96; council of representatives, 1993-96; publications committee, 1993-2000; fellows committee, 1995-2000), Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (fellows selection committee, 1991-93, Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize committee, 1985), American Educational Research Association, Society for Experimental Social Psychology.

AWARDS, HONORS: Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize, 1983, for Black and White in School: Trust, Tension or Tolerance?; honorary member Phi Eta Sigma, 1976, and Phi Beta Kappa.

WRITINGS:

Black and White in School: Trust, Tension, or Tolerance? Praeger (New York, NY), 1982, revised edition, Teachers College Press, (New York, NY), 1989.

Computers in Classroom Culture, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 1995.

Bringing the Internet to School: Lessons from an Urban District, Jossey-Bass (San Francisco, CA), 2002.

Work represented in many professional journals, including Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Educational Psychology and Social Psychology Quarterly. Member of editorial board, Sociology of Education, 1986-89, Social Psychology Quarterly, 1982-85, and Interactive Learning Environments, 1990-93. Work represented in anthologies, including, The Development of Children's Friendship, edited by S. Asher and J. Gottman, Cambridge University Press, (New York, NY), 1981; and Cooperationin Education, edited by S. Sharon, P. Hare, C. Webb, and R. Hertz Lazarowitz, Brigham Young University Press, (Provo, Utah), 1980.

SIDELIGHTS: Janet Ward Schofield's academic training, her varied experience in the Office of Economic Opportunity and the National Institute of Education, and her teaching and research have led her to produce significant work in sociology and education. While she has written books and scholarly papers, she has also reviewed and edited the work of her peers.

Black and White in School: Trust, Tension, and Tolerance?, first published in 1982 and later released in 1989 in a revised edition, is the result of a three-year study, sponsored by the National Institute of Education in the mid-1970s, of a desegregated middle school in a northern U.S. urban environment. The research team used observation, interviews, and field experiments to create a detailed portrait of the social dynamics of the school. Social relationships and interactions among black and white students were the particular focus of this study. Students in grades six, seven, and eight composed the population studied. Attention was given to external factors, including local politics and shifts in decisions made by the school board.

Scholars agreed that one of the study's most significant findings is that the students' interracial behavior changed more than their attitudes. It was suggested that the reason for this change was that students of different races came to know each other as individuals, rather than members of a group. The book implies that schools should promote programs that allow racially mixed student populations to get to know one another on a personal level. Changes in behavior rather than changes in attitude form the core of more realistic expectations. Included in the study are some observations on gender differences in interracial interactions. Contemporary Psychology reviewer John U. Ogbu called Black and White in School "an important contribution on desegregated schools and interracial relations."

In Computers and Classroom Culture Schofield describes the many ways—some of them unexpected—that computer technology has changed the learning environment. The data for this study was gathered during the 1985-86 and 1986-87 academic years at a large, public high school with a diverse enrollment. Schofield directed a group of researchers as they conducted approximately 250 hours of interviews with students and faculty. Close to 400 hours of observation of the use of computers in class was recorded. Some of the more surprising findings of the study have to do with the expectations of administrators and teaching staff. At the outset, these two groups of adults expected that the arrival of computers in the classroom would totally transform the learning environment. They had not counted on the confusion and uncertainty that the computers brought along with them. Uninformed choices in the purchase of both hardware and software, added to poor teacher training with the new technology, were more than enough to create a climate of dissatisfaction and uncertainty in the classroom. Lack of regard for the classroom as a social environment which influences the way technology is used and, in turn, is also influenced by it, was a significant factor contributing to the initial lack of ease.

The study was built around four environments: a geometry class using a computer tutoring system, a business class emphasizing computer use, a computer-science class that included software design as part of the curriculum, and a lab available for use during the lunch break.

The author concludes that "the effect of computer usage is likely to depend on a plethora of factors including the kind of software used (e.g. drill and practice, simulations, networking, tutoring), the kind of students using the software, the social and physical context of computer use, and prior classroom practices."

Schofield and Ann L. Davidson produced a five-year study of the Networking for Education Testbed (NET), sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The focus of the study, Bringing the Internet to School: Lessons from an Urban District, is the use of the Internet in education. The researchers have cautioned against the unconsidered adoption of the Internet in a school's curriculum, suggesting that it is necessary to understand the effects of technology on a school's culture and the mirroring influence of the school on technology. Schofield and Davidson point out that the wealth of information and ideas available to students via the Internet can be more distracting than helpful. Teachers' twin concerns about losing control of the curriculum and the potential loss of authority are also factors in a changing learning environment. However, Schoefield and Davidson note that Internet use also brings with it some unexpected positive change in the classroom environment and in teacher-student relations.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Choice, April, 1983, review of Black and White in School: Trust, Tension, or Tolerance? p. 1185; July, 1996, G. H. Alexander, review of Computers in Classroom Culture, p. 1845.

Contemporary Psychology, May, 1984, John U. Ogbu, review of Black and White in School: Trust, Tension, or Tolerance? p. 373.

Library Journal, March 15, 2002, Scott Walter, review of The Internet in School: Promise and Problems, p. 92.

Publishers Weekly, February 4, 2002, review of The Internet in School: Promise and Problems, p. 70.

Social Science Computer Review, summer, 1998, Robert J. Buckley, review of Computers in Classroom Culture, p. 219.

Teachers College Record, winter, 1983, Nobuo K. Shimahara, review of Black and White in School: Trust, Tension, or Tolerance? p. 334; winter, 1996, Benjamin L. Bell, review of Computers in Classroom Culture, p. 346.