Dr Thomas was one of three speakers at the University of Tasmania Education Provocations event on Tuesday night, which aimed to "provoke" education stakeholders to get them to think differently about some of the major issues in education.

He was joined by associate professor Helen Chick, who discussed the adequacy of current mathematical learning techniques, and Dr Joanne Jones, who discussed the importance of cultural literacy.

Dr Thomas said research had shown that three out of four teachers get their students to practise NAPLAN testing months before the actual tests, and that this was not always in the best interests of students.

"There are high levels of stress and anxiety leading up to the tests," he said.

"From an academic standpoint the best way to prepare children for success on NAPLAN is to actually teach to the curriculum.

"To forget about NAPLAN and give students the opportunity to engage in authentic learning."

Dr Thomas, who has focused on the persuasive writing section of NAPLAN tests, said getting children to write about hypothetical situations for the tests does not teach them about the power of language.

"It would be better to get them involved in local matters, and to get them writing about things they are passionate about. Student success on NAPLAN is then actually a by-product of good authentic learning."

He said it was not about teachers doing the wrong thing because often they were pressured into NAPLAN practice testing.

"I want to provoke them," he said.

"To say if we are really interested in getting students to succeed on NAPLAN, there is quite a bit of research to show how to do that, and that drilling them with NAPLAN-like tests is more harmful than good."