Culturally responsive teaching (CRT) has been widely advocated as a means of bridging students’ cultural experiences with formal learning, yet little empirical evidence exists on how teachers in music education embody and differentiate such practices. This study investigates how Chinese primary and secondary music teachers enact culturally responsive pedagogy within local contexts and what teacher characteristics predict their engagement in these practices. Grounded in the frameworks of Funds of Knowledge (Moll et al., 1992) and Teacher Knowledge Base (Shulman, 1987), the study conceptualises teachers’ familiarity with local culture as a pedagogical resource and positions CRT as a developmental continuum from cultural awareness to pedagogical transformation.Survey data were collected from 802 music teachers across Guangdong Province, measuring the frequency of four dimensions of CRT practice: (1) including local crafts, artworks, or other cultural resources in teaching materials, (2) discussing local arts and traditions with students, (3) designing project-based tasks that encourage exploration of local culture, and (4) guiding students to critically examine cultural dynamics and envision themselves as agents of change. A latent profile analysis (LPA) revealed five distinct groups—Minimal, Emerging, Integrative, Responsive, and Transformative Practice—representing an ascending trajectory of cultural engagement and pedagogical intentionality. Teachers in higher-level profiles demonstrated increasingly holistic and reflective use of local cultural resources in music instruction.A multinomial logistic regression further examined the predictors of profile membership. Results indicated that local cultural identity, prior learning in local arts, and teaching position rank were robust positive predictors of higher CRT profiles, whereas school level (primary vs. secondary) showed a negative association. Teachers with strong identification with local culture were up to 31 times more likely to belong to the Transformative Practice group compared to the Minimal Practice group, underscoring the centrality of teachers’ cultural consciousness in shaping equitable and contextually grounded pedagogy.These findings contribute to music teacher education by offering an empirically derived typology of culturally responsive practice. The study highlights the need for professional development programs that strengthen teachers’ cultural self-understanding, encourage engagement with local arts traditions, and promote reflective practice that connects music education to community life. By mapping the continuum from cultural awareness to pedagogical transformation, this research provides a nuanced understanding of how music educators in China enact cultural responsiveness within diverse and evolving educational landscapes.