Resilience as a Differentiating Factor in Professional Identity Profiles: Insights From Chinese In‐Service Music Teachers

ABSTRACT Teacher professional identity is essential to understanding teachers' professional growth, especially in the context of music education. This study adopts a person‐centered approach to examine variations in professional identity among Chinese in‐service music teachers, with a specific focus on how resilience serves as a differentiating factor. Drawing on survey data from 395 teachers across diverse educational institutions in China, the study employs latent profile analysis (LPA) and identifies three distinct identity profiles: Identity‐Challenged, Developing Professionals, and Empowered Professionals. Subsequent multinomial logistic regression analysis reveals that teachers with higher levels of resilience are significantly more likely to belong to the Empowered group, suggesting that resilience is a critical psychological resource in shaping identity coherence. The findings highlight the heterogeneity of teacher identity development, particularly in emotionally demanding educational contexts like music education. This study contributes to teacher education research by highlighting the value of professional development that combines emotional support, resilience‐building, and identity‐focused reflection, which aims at fostering both the cognitive and emotional growth of teachers as they navigate complex role expectations and institutional pressures.