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Researcher Bio: Jose Vilson is currently a doctoral candidate at Teachers College, Columbia University studying sociology and education with a policy concentration. He is currently on schedule to defend in the Summer of 2024. José Luis Vilson is a veteran educator, sociologist, and author in New York City, NY. He is also the executive director of EduColor, an organization dedicated to building and supporting communities of educators of color. He is the author of the best-selling book This Is Not A Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education, and has written for multiple publications including The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Atlantic. He has spoken about education, math, and race for a number of organizations including TED, AERA, NCTM, and NCTE. He serves on the board of directors for the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards and PowerMyLearning.
Over the course of the last four years, he has developed multiple ways of thinking about a number of issues related to the recruitment and retention of teachers of color. This stems personally from his 15 years of teaching middle school students math in Washington Heights, NYC (many of whom also have matriculated in the CUNY system), but also recognizing how teaching is such a critical function of schooling and democracy building. In his dissertation work, he focuses primarily on teacher professionalism with race and context in mind.
2) How do teachers explain the relationship between school- and district-based context, teachers’ race, and professionalism for teachers?
In the first question, he is most interested in the role of identity formation and notions of professionalism (as per the sociology of professions) as mechanisms for understanding questions of recruitment and retention of teachers, particularly over the last 25 years. In the second question, I am most concerned with how teachers make connections between their internal sense-making about their profession and the sociological ways their stated profession either aligns or conflicts with structural, political, and societal norms. His contributions to the extant body of knowledge suggests that a more transformational notion of professions would help American society, particularly in New York City. He also draws on quantitative and qualitative methodologies throughout his research.