A brief history of a science teacher professional development initiative in Indonesia and the implications for centralised teacher development

The implementation of successive phases of an intensive approach to science teacher professional development in Indonesia is described. While successful in establishing an extensive network of teacher trainers and a standardised approach to teacher professional development, observations indicate that the teaching practices of many teachers remained unaffected. This unique approach is examined in terms of the. sustainability of the teaching methodologies promoted by the project. An alternative conceptualisation is suggested, requiring governments to adopt a more holistic and broad based sectoral approach to science teacher professional development. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.