MORAL AND PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY OF TEACHERS IN AN AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY IN YUNAN, CHINA
Author(s): FANG YUDAN
Authors Affiliations:
GRADUATE SCHOOL, EMILIO AGUINALDO COLLEGE
DOIs:10.2015/IJIRMF/202510013 | Paper ID: IJIRMF202510013This study investigated the moral and professional identity of teachers as perceived by students at an agricultural university in Yunnan, China. Employing a quantitative correlational design, the research involved 380 student-respondents who evaluated their teachers using a structured questionnaire with five dimensions each for moral and professional identity. Moral identity covered ethical values, reasoning, cultural and religious influences, emotional-ethical sensitivity, and ethical leadership, while professional identity included self-efficacy and commitment, reflective practice, work engagement, socio-cultural influences, and role management. Descriptive statistics showed that teachers were generally viewed as exhibiting both identities at an evident level, with mean scores of 3.26 for moral identity and 3.25 for professional identity. Cultural and religious influences (M = 3.37) and role ambiguity with dual responsibilities (M = 3.32) ranked highest in their respective domains, while emotional-ethical sensitivity (M = 3.13) and reflective practice (M = 3.16) ranked lowest. Correlation results indicated that moral and professional identities were largely independent, with most coefficients near zero and the overall correlation insignificant (r = −0.092, p = .072). Only one weak but meaningful relationship emerged between ethical leadership and reflective practice (r = 0.103, p = .045), implying that teachers who demonstrate ethical leadership also engage more in reflective teaching. These findings suggest that the two constructs function separately yet complementarily within the academic setting. Strengthening emotional-ethical engagement and systematic reflection could enhance teacher identity formation. Institutions are encouraged to promote ethics-oriented and reflective professional development programs to sustain integrity and competence in higher education.
FANG YUDAN (2025); MORAL AND PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY OF TEACHERS IN AN AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY IN YUNAN, CHINA, International Journal for Innovative Research in Multidisciplinary Field, ISSN(O): 2455-0620, Vol-11, Issue-10, Pp.93-98. Available on – https://www.ijirmf.com/
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