Influence of mental health education curricula on pre-service teachers’ professional identity
Content analysis, value, and practical pathways
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21494754 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Junyi Wang (0009-0000-6798-9632, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 250-266 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-15 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Education for Teaching International Research and Pedagogy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0260-7476 • E-ISSN: 1360-0540 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02607476.2025.2563699 |
| OpenAlex | W4414402049 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 43 |
Teacher professional identity (TPI) is increasingly recognised as a critical foundation for teacher resilience, commitment, and effectiveness, yet its formation remains fragile under conditions of stress, attrition, and shifting educational demands. This study advances the argument that structured mental health education should be positioned as a central mechanism for cultivating TPI. Drawing on a systematic synthesis of literature from 2000–2024, international policy documents, and representative Chinese practices, the paper develops an integrative conceptual framework linking mental health education to four interrelated dimensions of identity formation: cognitive values and beliefs, emotional engagement, motivational belonging, and behavioural self-regulation. Each dimension is anchored in established psychological theories, including cognitive bias modification, social and emotional learning, self-determination theory, and self-regulation theory, and substantiated by cross-cultural evidence from Western, East Asian, and developing contexts. The analysis highlights how mental health curricula can directly strengthen pre-service teachers’ adaptive cognitions, emotional regulation, intrinsic motivation, and professional conduct, thereby aligning personal well-being with professional commitment. The paper integrates identity and mental health literatures into a unified model; practically, it proposes four curriculum modules adaptable to diverse training contexts; and at the policy level, it calls for embedding mental health competencies into accreditation standards and teacher education benchmarks
Content analysis · Curriculum · Health education · Mental health · Professional development · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Educational and Psychological Assessments · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
Handbook of Research on Teacher Education
Teacher well-being
Student Violence Against Teachers
‘Should I stay or should I go?’
Mindfulness training and reductions in teacher stress and burnout
Effects of time-management practices on college grades.
Understanding teacher identity in teachers' professional lives
Understanding teacher identity
Attaining Self-Regulation
The Prosocial Classroom
How Dissemination and Implementation Science Can Contribute to the Advancement of Learning Health Systems
Decolonization, Nationalism, and local identity
Psychometric properties of a parent- and teacher-report measure for autistic children
Academic buoyancy in high school
The Managed Heart
Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being
The Beneficial Effects of Professional Identity
Statistical learning research
Teacher job satisfaction and motivation to leave the teaching profession
Teachers’ perceptions of professional identity
The emotional practice of teaching
Pre-service and beginning teachers’ professional identity and its relation to dropping out of the profession
Debate as a tool to develop disciplinary practices and student agency
Reconsidering research on teachers’ professional identity
In search of the essence of a good teacher
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |