Introduction
The Further Education (FE) and Training sector is at least 170 years old but only since 1999 has there been a set of professional standards to guide effective practice and teachers’ professional development. During the 19th century, the sector was disjointed and poorly organised, being left to socially-conscious schoolteachers and philanthropic entrepreneurs to provide the ad hoc basic skills and technical training employees were demanding. Lack of funding and an untrained workforce meant that teaching was often of variable quality and not always relevant to workers’ actual needs, and since neither the curriculum nor its teachers were regulated, there was no evidence base or commitment to developing effective teaching. Given these challenges, it is remarkable that the FE and Training sector did not significantly alter its position until 1999.
