National standards for teaching have been developed in recent years in Australia to drive improvements and national consistency in teaching quality. Thelma Perso discusses how some of the standards? focus areas refer specifically to the teaching and learning of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, in recognition of the concomitant urgency around ?closing the gap? between the achievement of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. She comments on the significance of ?cultural competency? and outlines some of her concerns regarding the potential of the standards to raise the quality of teaching to the extent that the ?gap? will be addressed
