The Influence of Professional Identity on Learning Engagement among Teacher Education Students: A Latent Profile Analysis

Yuanrui Chen¹Xiaodong Qi¹Jingwen Zhang²Mingyang Ma³Xiaobo Yang^4*Jongnam Baek^5*

• ¹College of Teacher Education, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang, China
• ²Child Welfare and Early Childhood Education, Woosuk University, Wanju-gun, Republic of Korea
• ³Shenyang No. 120 Middle School, Shenyang, China
• ⁴Institute of Catalysis for Energy and Environment, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang, China
• ⁵Department of Education and Cultural Contents Development, Woosuk University, Wanju-gun, Republic of Korea

This study investigates the influence of latent categories of professional identity on learning engagement by employing Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) with a sample of 1,059 teacher education students. Three distinct groups were identified: high, medium, and low professional identity groups. Gender and voluntary choice of teacher education major showed clear variations across groups. Females were more prevalent in the medium professional identity group, whereas involuntary students were disproportionately represented in the low and medium professional identity groups. The impact of professional identity on learning engagement showed a descending trend from high to the medium to low groups. Notably, in the medium and high professional identity group, professional values and efficacy exerted a strong influence on learning engagement. By contrast, in the low professional identity group, overall professional identity demonstrated a significant impact on learning engagement. This study reveals the heterogeneity of teacher education students' professional identity and its underlying mechanisms influencing learning engagement, offering insights for the design of differentiated teacher education and professional development programs.