AbstractThere is some agreement between government sponsored committees and teachers in further and higher education that some improvement is required in teaching in educational institutions. Other reports have focused on a similar need in the area of management education. This article describes some research carried out by the Centre for the Development of Management Teachers and Trainers at the University of Lancaster which sheds some light on the nature of these needs as seen by serving management teachers and heads of management departments in Universities, Polytechnics and Further Education Colleges. The final part of the article describes some of the programmes which have been designed and run by this Centre to meet these needs, and reveals the principles underlying these designs. One expectation is that these programmes will encourage teachers to initiate and manage their own self development in the long term.