Authenticating a model for sustainable professional development in an international context

Sustaining gains that result from international aid projects is a matter of contemporary concern. This paper outlines a model for sustainable professional development, drawn from the authors' experiences in managing a six-year professional development project for teachers' college lecturers in Papua New Guinea. The model involves five stages which have implications for individuals, their institutional contexts, and the interactions between them. Research designed to authenticate the model is reported. The data support the general features of the model and suggest that, with some elaboration, the model has potential application in the design, implementation and evaluation of similar projects in many fields.