Quality professional development is indisputably central to building, improving and sustaining the quality of teacher professionals. Focusing on experiences in Tanzania, this paper reflects on the practices and challenges of developing quality professionals in a developing country. The paper examines the trend and efforts of building and developing quality teacher professionals across time, from the colonial epoch to the post-independence era. Considering that teachers in whatever capacity, irrespective of their geographical location, are lifelong learners, the paper discusses the possible challenges and/or impediments inherent in the development of quality teacher professionals. The paper argues that developing quality education is a responsibility developing countries must shoulder to meet the demands of the global village where teacher professional development is indispensable and inescapable