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This paper presents insights from a recent study in which 17 instructors in an institute for post-secondary vocational education were interviewed regarding their professional learning activities. More specifically, the study focused on the prompt for learning, the topic of learning, the level of reflection involved, and the extent of selfdirectedness of the learning activities. The findings show that instructor learning is for a large part focused on developing skills in teaching their specific subject matter, is often prompted by events in the workplace, is not self-directed, and is mostly accompanied by action-oriented reflection. The paper seeks to explain these findings by discussing the nature of learning required to master teaching in an institute of vocational education, using Ellström’s (2011) theory of adaptive and developmental learning. Implications for further research and practice are discussed.