This article explores teacher professional development in the FE sector. It includes an overview of the recently implemented Teacher Development Programme at The Sheffield College, that has been built on the rich evidence base for successful teacher professional development.In the last week I have had two teachers who were leaving the college say in a roundabout way, ‘thank you for supporting my development’. I was taken aback in both instances, and although this may seem a strange way to start the article, it actually resulted in me reflecting on teacher professional development across the further education (FE) sector.Teacher Development at The Sheffield CollegeI am currently employed at The Sheffield College and can honestly say I am very fortunate to have a role I thoroughly enjoy, with a large aspect of this supporting teachers to develop, reflect and enjoy the beauty of teaching.I am also so enthused and inspired by those across the sector who have very similar roles and are continuously working hard to implement strategies to develop the teaching population in FE. A 10-minute visit to any of the various media platforms is an easy way to witness the amazing and thoughtful work going on to develop teaching, learning and assessment practices across the FE sector – well done everyone!The Importance of DevelopmentOf course, the importance of this cannot be understated, with the influence of teachers shown to have a great impact (Hattie, 2008; Hattie 2011; Rockoff, 2004 and Chetty, Friedman & Rockoff, 2014). The underlying assumption that teachers need to constantly develop is often contentious, however, and although my first thought has always been on creating spaces and a positive culture for development, I have always been very honest that development should be placed on a high pedestal by all.Interestingly, I recently revisited a classic YouTube clip of Dylan Wiliam discussing How Every Teacher Can Improve, and the closing remarks are powerful, as he states every teacher should accept the commitment to keep improving practice until we retire or die. Granted this was said for affect and tongue in cheek, however the underlying principle is correct and one I subscribe to.As alluded to earlier, and having experience in the FE sector for over 17 years, my anecdotal reflections are that there is now a great emphasis placed on developing practice across the sector, and excellent opportunities for individuals to engage in. Events such as Teach and Research Meets have become commonplace, as has a developing network of research opportunities for FE teachers to participate in. I was fortunate enough to have a chapter in the brilliant book edited by Samantha Jones last year titled Great FE Teaching, which is another example of the momentum that has developed across the sector.Research into Professional DevelopmentA plethora of research has been complied over the years on the professional development of teachers, for example, the work of Linda Darling-Hammond, which I have utilised when considering teacher professional development. Notable works include the Report on Professional Development in 2008, and Effective Teacher Professional Development in 2017.Related to this, research has advanced the approach and understanding of the use of observations to support the development of practice (O’Leary, 2014; O’Leary, 2016), and recently the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) released a thorough guidance report on Effective Professional Development. The EEF as always did a great job in making the findings accessible to all, and although the close to 200-page full report is available, the downloadable tools are super useful in understanding some of the key findings from the research.Teacher Development ProgramMoreover, in recent years that has been an influx of high-quality, and importantly, accessible resources supporting with the development of teaching practices. At The Sheffield College we have built our newly launched Teacher Deve...

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