Objective: This study investigates the professionalism of sixth-grade elementary and first-year middle school teachers using latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify distinct teacher professionalism (TP) profiles and examine factors influencing profile membership.
Methods: The study utilized data from the third wave of the Gyeongnam Education Longitudinal Study and analyzed the levels of teacher professionalism among elementary and middle school teachers. Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was conducted based on four indicators of teacher professionalism: student assessment, instructional improvement activities, teacher efficacy, and colleague collaboration. Subsequently, multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed to examine factors influencing membership in the latent profiles.
Results: The results of the latent profile analysis identified three latent groups for both elementary and middle school teachers. The first group, labeled the high professionalism group (41.0%), demonstrated the highest levels across student assessment, instructional improvement activities, teacher efficacy, and colleague collaboration. The second group, labeled the moderate professionalism group (51.0%), exhibited average levels of professionalism, whereas the third group, labeled the low professionalism group (8.0%), showed the lowest levels across all domains. In addition, factors influencing membership in teacher professionalism profiles differed between elementary and middle school teachers.
Conclusion: The findings confirmed that teacher professionalism is not a single homogeneous characteristic but rather consists of latent groups with distinct levels and characteristics. The study suggests that policies and support strategies aimed at enhancing teacher professionalism should adopt a tailored approach that reflects the characteristics of each group. Furthermore, by identifying individual and school-related factors influencing teacher professionalism profiles, the study highlights the need for practical support policies to strengthen teacher professionalism, including improving job satisfaction, supporting professional development, and enhancing school environments.