ABSTRACT
NAPLAN gives rise to a range of influences that result in elements of EATSIPS being enacted at the school level in problematic ways. This chapter believes that what we encountered warrants further consideration as embedding Indigenous perspectives is centrally positioned within the emerging national curriculum, and the continuance of NAPLAN seems inevitable. It is tempting to view Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students as the primary focus of the policy, the long-term focus of EATSIPS is actually the work of school leaders, changes in school processes to support the mandated work of teachers, and the practices of teachers. In the present policy climate, the tangible and high-stakes nature of NAPLAN and the gap target of improving literacy and numeracy achievements has undermined the important role to be played by EATSIPS. For the teachers in this chapter, the policy climate is reductively associated with changes to schooling that are designed to focus narrowly on the achievements of Indigenous students.
