Ethical–attitudinal profiles in initial teacher education faculty : implications for emotionally safe teaching and educator wellbeing

Teacher ethics and attitudes toward teaching are central to university teaching, particularly in initial teacher education (ITE). However, less is known about how these dimensions co-occur among faculty staff and whether recurrent ethical–attitudinal patterns can be identified. This cross-sectional study examined the ethics and attitudes towards teaching amongst 237 ITE instructors from eight universities in Andalusia, Spain. Teacher ethics (four dimensions) and attitudes toward teaching (three dimensions) were assessed using self-report questionnaires. Analyses included ordinal confirmatory factor analysis and reliability estimates, Spearman correlations with Holm adjustment, and Gaussian mixture modelling (GMM), followed by nonparametric profile comparisons and exploratory sociodemographic analyses. The 12 cross-domain associations were positive and low-to-moderate. GMM selected a five-profile solution comprising High–High, Moderately Above-Average, Attitude–Values Discrepancy, Low–Low, and Uniformly Low configurations. Classification certainty was high within the full sample, but split-half stability was moderate and variable, supporting exploratory interpretation. Profile membership showed limited sociodemographic and professional variation. These findings highlight ethical–attitudinal heterogeneity and provide a person-centred basis for further research on teacher ethics and professional development, as well as potential implications for emotionally responsible teaching and educator wellbeing.