Continuing professional development (CPD) is widely recognised as a key driver of teaching quality in further education (FE). Yet across the sector, a familiar tension persists: how do we ensure that professional development genuinely changes what happens in the classroom? In my experience, and other colleagues’, CPD too often introduces valuable ideas but stops short of supporting teachers to rehearse, refine and implement those ideas in practice. 

Research suggests that professional learning is most effective when it includes modelling, rehearsal, feedback and social support (EEF, 2025; ETF, 2026). Without these elements, professional development can remain intellectually engaging but disconnected from the lived reality of teaching.

At Middlesbrough College Group, this challenge prompted the development of Tuck-in ’n’ Teach, a cross-college CPD initiative designed to extend evidence-informed teaching approaches beyond initial teacher education (ITE) programmes and into the wider teaching workforce.

Within the ITE team, we recognised that many of the approaches used to train new teachers, including modelling, rehearsal and structured feedback, are equally valuable for experienced teachers. However, opportunities for staff across departments to engage with these approaches in a structured and practical way can be limited after ITE.

Approach

In response, working alongside the ITE team, I developed and led the initiative in my role as ITE lecturer and mentoring lead. The aim was to align closely with the college’s teaching and learning strategy ‘Taking Teaching Higher’, which emphasises evidence-informed practice, collaborative professional learning and a culture of curiosity.

By situating the programme within this wider strategic context, the initiative sought not only to provide practical CPD sessions but also to contribute to the college’s broader ambition of continually strengthening teaching practice across departments.

Tuck-in ’n’ Teach was therefore created to expand the outreach of the ITE team while supporting the wider culture of evidence-informed professional learning across the organisation. Rather than introducing entirely new approaches, it sought to make the principles of effective teaching more visible across the organisation and to create structured opportunities for teachers to rehearse and refine those approaches together. In this sense, the programme represents an extension of ITE pedagogy into workforce development.

Approaches such as modelling, rehearsal and mentoring are well established within teacher training, yet they can also provide a powerful structure for professional learning across the wider teaching workforce. By adapting these principles for cross-college CPD, the initiative aims to create a shared professional learning architecture that supports teachers to continually refine their practice.

The programme consists of a series of 45-minute lunchtime workshops, open to all teaching staff. The informal lunchtime format was chosen deliberately to make participation accessible while also creating a relaxed and collaborative professional learning environment. Each session includes a light lunch – the inspiration behind the programme’s name.

Sessions run once each half term and focus on key aspects of effective classroom practice. Topics have included:

• behaviour routines and consistency
• entry, transition and exit routines
• explanations and effective modelling
• questioning to check understanding
• scaffolding learning in real time
• providing effective feedback.

Each session is structured around the KEEP framework (EEF, 2025), which identifies the components of professional development most likely to influence teaching practice. These include:

• knowledge: exploring the research behind an effective teaching approach
• explain and model: demonstrating the strategy in action
• explore and practise: teachers rehearse techniques through structured practice
• plan and reflect: participants identify how they will apply the strategy in their own teaching.

This structure helps ensure that professional development moves beyond discussion and supports teachers to translate ideas into classroom practice.

A defining feature of the programme is the emphasis on deliberate practice or rehearsal and, during sessions, teachers work in small groups to rehearse strategies such as questioning routines or modelling explanations.

Participants take turns adopting the roles of teacher, learner and observer, enabling them to practise techniques while receiving feedback from peers and facilitators. This approach reflects research suggesting that rehearsal and feedback are key mechanisms through which professional development influences teaching practice (EEF, 2025; ETF, 2026).

By creating a safe space, the sessions allow teachers to refine strategies before applying them in their own classrooms. In this sense, the sessions function less as traditional CPD workshops and more as structured opportunities for teachers to rehearse professional practice, building confidence before translating strategies into their teaching.

Professional learning does not end when the session finishes. A key element of Tuck-in ’n’ Teach is the integration of mentoring to support classroom implementation. At the end of each session, participants identify a strategy they intend to apply in their teaching and set a simple implementation goal. Teachers are then encouraged to invite a teaching and learning mentor to observe a lesson and provide supportive feedback as they continue to practise the approach.

Research into teacher mentoring highlights the importance of supportive, developmental mentoring relationships that encourage reflection, experimentation and professional growth (Hobson, 2016). In this sense, mentoring extends professional development beyond the workshop and into the lived experience of the classroom. Together, the KEEP framework and mentoring create a structure through which teachers can learn, rehearse and refine their practice over time, gradually strengthening the consistency of teaching across departments.