Influence of mental health education curricula on pre-service teachers’ professional identity: content analysis, value, and practical pathways

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.