Education Motions

Created on: 29 May 2023 | Last modified: 10 Jun 2023

Motions

Resolutions

1. Council

"That this AGM believes teacher professionalism, voice and agency are fundamental principles that the EIS should continue to promote and whichunderpin an Empowered School system.

Building on the strong contributions to the policy debate made on behalf of EIS members in the National Discussionand Hayward Review, this AGM resolves to continue the EIS's close engagement with the processes of Educational Reform, and to assert these principles as essential underpinnings in the implementation of each aspect of Education Reform, moving forward."

 Carried

2. East Renfrewshire Local Association

"That this AGM instruct Council to campaign for reinforcement of the value of teachers' autonomy and professionalism and their ability to plan responsively for their classes and furthermore rejects the imposition of teaching using centralised resources and standardised methodologies."

 Withdrawn

3. Council, North Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire Local Association

"That this AGM notes with deep concern the lack of core investment in Additional Support for Learning (ASL) at a time of rising level and severity of need and the impact which this is having on equitable outcomes for pupils and on the health and wellbeing of pupils and staff.

AGM reaffirms the support for pupils with ASN and commits to fighting cuts in this sector.

This AGM further notes existing EIS policy on ASL and resolves to launch a campaign, within the context of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European Convention on Human Rights, to secure sufficient and transparent funding of Additional Support Needs provision, both in mainstream and Special Schools settings, to meet the holistic needs of all learners and bridge the gap between policy and practice, inter alia, by increasing specialist support and providing dedicated time for ASL-related collegiate practice, multi-agency engagement and professional learning.

AGM instructs Council to:

  1. identify the number of ASN pupils in our schools;
  2. identify the number of those pupils who are in our mainstream schools;
  3. identify the number of support staff including ASN teachers and Learning assistants;
  4. to investigate the extent to which ASN class sizes across Scotland breach the criteria for maxima in SNCT Section 2:9; and
  5. use the information gathered to create a clear picture of ASN provision in each Local Authority and to campaign for increased support and investment."

Amendment Edinburgh Local Association

Add at the end of (e), '(f) and, where appropriate, work with national parent organisations and with voluntary organisations which support learners with an ASN in taking forward such a campaign'.

 Carried

4. Shetland Local Association and West Dunbartonshire Local Association

"That this AGM condemns underfunding of ASN pupil support in all of our schools by the Scottish Government and COSLA, resulting in the unacceptable levels of violence which our teachers suffer, and instructs Council to:

  1. continue to gather evidence to support a campaign to rid our schools of violence including the number of staff days lost due to violence incidents; and
  2. gather evidence on the methods of reporting violent incidents in each Local Authority with a view to publishing the information to encourage best practice in pursuit of a zero tolerance to violence in schools."

 Carried

5. Glasgow Local Association

"This AGM calls for the EIS to investigate and report upon the experiences of members currently employed in the provision within school-based units that support children with SEBN across all authorities.

The investigation to include but not be limited to:

  1. The referral process for identifying children suitable for the provision.
  2. The recruitment, training, and retention of staff.
  3. Availability of access to mainstream provision during transition periods."

Amendment Midlothian Local Association

After "school-based units" insert 'and stand alone local authority services'

 Carried

6. Fife Local Association

"That this AGM instruct Council to investigate the provisions of Learning Support Teachers in mainstream schools across all Scottish Local Authorities.

AGM further instructs Council to examine the data and campaign for equity across all local authorities in light of rising additional support needs in mainstream schools."

Amendment Midlothian Local Association

Replace 'mainstream' with 'all'.

 Carried

7. Aberdeenshire Local Association and Glasgow Local Association

"That this AGM calls on the Scottish Government to honour its commitment to increasing teacher numbers in schools and instructs Council to campaign for an increase in funding and staffing of local authority EAL services.

That This AGM believes that the number of permanently employed specialist teachers of English as an Additional Language must increase across Scotland to address the needs of EAL pupils.

Therefore, this AGM calls for a national minimum staffing standard – with ringfenced funding to local authorities - to be developed and adopted to ensure sustainable, fair and consistent teacher EAL Specialist Teacher staffing levels throughout the country, capable of addressing the needs of EAL pupils."

Amendment Edinburgh Local Association

Insert 'for EAL staffing' after "staffing standard".

 Carried

8. Glasgow Local Association

"That this AGM calls on the EIS to investigate and report on the impact of multi-level teaching on teacher workload and wellbeing in ASL schools by surveying members."

Amendment North Ayrshire Local Association

Remove 'ASL'.

 Amendment Withdrawn 

Motion Carried

9. Glasgow Local Association

"That this AGM reaffirms the EIS's commitment to continue campaigning for quality education and the primacy of face-to-face, in-person classroom interactions as a fundamental component of quality learning and teaching.

Further, this AGM resolves to ensure that the National E-Learning Offer (NELO) and any plans for the expansion of online learning options, will not lead to the replacement or devaluing of the role of the classroom teacher in delivering quality learning, teaching and assessment within classrooms or other physical learning environments as appropriate to learner needs."

 Carried

10. North Lanarkshire Local Association

"This AGM calls for a review by Education Scotland (or successor body) of how success in the senior phase is measured and reported with parity of emphasis given to a range of criteria, including positive destinations and wider achievement."

 Carried

11. North Lanarkshire Local Association

"That this AGM instruct Council to seek that the assessment body (SQA or otherwise) will provide annual CPD opportunities in each subject area for all levels to support specific subject teachers."

 Carried

12. Highland Local Association

"That this AGM instruct Council to investigate and report on the potential misuse of AI 'Bots'/Apps by students for course work purposes and use this to inform guidance to members and local associations."

 Carried

13. Highland Local Association

"That this AGM instruct Council to seek assurances from the SQA, or relevant qualification awarding body, that they will act as the 'gatekeeper' to ensure authenticity of candidate's submissions of course work given potential use of AI 'Bots'/Apps by students to create responses to assignments."

 Carried

14. North Lanarkshire Local Association

"This AGM calls on EIS Council to engage with Scottish Government and Education Scotland to provide an additional inset day to allow schools to embed the forthcoming new reforms to assessments, exams and qualifications."

Amendment Fife Local Association

Remove "an" from before "additional inset day" and add 's' to read 'provide additional inset days'.

 Carried

15. Western Isles Local Association

"That this AGM instructs Council to seek the views and experiences of members who support probationers in schools; gathering evidence on the working time allocated, in this critical role for Scottish education."

 Carried

16. North Lanarkshire Local Association

"This AGM call upon EIS council to engage with the Scottish Government, COSLA, GTCS and Higher Education Institutions to provide dedicated and protected time for mentors to work with and assist student teachers in developing their skills to reach the Standard for Provisional Registration."

 Carried 

17. Fife Local Association

"That this AGM instructs Council to produce guidelines on best practice in practitioner enquiry. These guidelines should include guidance on how practitioner enquiry can be reasonably completed as part of school collegiate time."

 67 For

117 Against 

Motion Falls

18. Fife Local Association

"This AGM re-iterates our opposition to the introduction of management schemes of one headteacher for multiple schools."

 Carried

19. Midlothian Local Association

"That this AGM instruct Council to lobby the Scottish Government to honour and implement the policy commitments it made in relation to Instrumental Music Tuition in the SNP Manifesto 2021:

  • to abolish fees for music and arts education, including instrumental music tuition in schools;
  • to mainstream music as a core subject in Scotland's education system; and
  • to ensure Scotland's school-based instrumental music teachers receive GTCS registration and accreditation."

 Carried

20. Edinburgh Local Association

"That this AGM instructs Council to investigate and report on the financial assistance currently available to students enrolled in Initial Teacher Education programmes in Scotland, and to survey a range of student teachers as to the adequacy of this assistance."

 Carried

21. Edinburgh Local Association

"That this AGM instructs Council to campaign for the Scottish Government to improve the methods it uses to incentivise students to enrol in Initial Teacher Education courses."

 Carried

22. Aberdeenshire Local Association

"That this AGM instructs Council to lobby Education Scotland, or its replacement body, to provide resources which can be deployed in all educational settings on Scotland's role in the Transatlantic Slave Trade."

 Carried