General Secretary Andrea Bradley was a delegate to the recent ISTP Conference in Iceland, and reports here for the SEJ.

For the first time in three years, Scotland was able to have a proper seat at the table of the 15th annual International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP), this year hosted by Iceland and located in Reykjavik.

The Summit co-organised by Education International and the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) is intended to be a forum for high-performing education system leaders to discuss the key education issues of the day. This year’s theme was Quality Education: the key to wellbeing and prosperity- very much on the wavelength of the EIS’s own Stand Up for Quality Education Campaign.

The summit’s terms of engagement? Country delegations must comprise representatives of government alongside senior education teacher trade union leaders; main discussions are conducted under Chatham House Rules; and governments and trade union leaders jointly agree and share three commitments to progress together ahead of the following year’s ISTP, ahead of which a progress report is submitted.

In contrast to the last two ISTPs held in Washington in 2023 (two years after hosting, the US Government refused to participate this year, and Singapore in 2024) this March in Iceland, Scotland wasn’t out in the cold as we were in 2022 and 2023 when politics got in the way and the Scottish Government decided not to attend and then was prevented the following year by the previous UK Government from doing so. The EIS attended as an observer to these important international discussions on both occasions that the Scottish Government was absent.

Refreshingly, instead of the political spats of recent years, this year something of a cross-border coalition of the willing emerged: the current UK Government, with the agreement of the OECD, Education International and our Icelandic hosts, facilitated rather than hindered Scotland’s participation and the Scottish Government took up the offer.

In addition to Northern Ireland and Wales, Scotland comprising of the Cabinet Secretray for Education Jenny Gilruth and I as General Secretary of Scotland’s largest teacher trade union, took part alongside the UK Government and the General Secretary of the NEU – all four nations present for the first time ever since the inception of the Summit in 2011.

This made for some cumbersome choreography in respect of seating arrangements at the summit table – and almost a diplomatic incident ahead of the final session when all UK and devolved nation delegates were determined to have a seat at the table – four times as many seats as any other delegation – but with Scotland’s insistence on equity and stubborn diplomacy with summit organisers, we ensured that all UK and devolved nations delegates were accommodated and able to share final commitments with the other 24 participating delegations from countries across Europe, Asia and Australasia.

Under the broad thematic heading of quality education, discussions focussed on four main topics:

1. The critical role of early childhood education – in contrast to the lesser status and resourcing afforded to quality Early Years provision by many governments.
   
2. Supporting educators to foster equity and wellbeing – with teacher wellbeing and good working conditions being a pre-requisite for this.
   
3. Educators empowering child-centred education – professional autonomy, strong leadership and real social dialogue so that educators can foster critical thinking, engagement and student agency.
   
4. The risks and opportunities posed by Artificial Intelligence in education – with strong consensus on the need for human-centred approaches that utilise AI as a tool where appropriately judged by education professionals.

Across all themed discussions, the findings from the UN high Level Panel on the Teaching Profession that was convened to address issues related to the global teacher shortage, such as workload, pay erosion and health and safety issues, were frequently referenced, as were the resource-related challenges of inclusion and the growing threats to democracy internationally.

Having listened to the contributions of our fellow delegations, and taking account of the challenges and strengths of Scottish education the Cabinet Secretary and I agreed and shared two key insights with the Summit: firstly, the criticality of quality education, teachers and young people to help in protecting and promoting democracy, peace, social and climate justice; and secondly, the imperative of instilling in young people a sense of hope and agency to change the world for the better.

We agreed three key commitments (included below)- all important areas for collaboration over the next 11 months ahead of the next ISTP in Estonia. The EIS grasps the imperatives of delivering on these commitments. Will the Scottish Government – amidst this election year – finally grasp the nettle?

1. Through our partnership approach, including local government, we will look at the opportunities and challenges presented by artificial intelligence, considering carefully the guidance produced by the OECD and Education International, and create an equivalent set of guidelines and guardrails for the Scotland context. We will consider this work in the context of Scotland’s AI strategy and principles and the commitment to develop a new digital learning strategy. We will also consider any areas for discussion within the SNCT. We will look for opportunities to reduce teacher workload, enable collaboration and to support learning and teaching in the interests of enabling quality education for equity, equality, democracy and peace, including through the use of appropriate digital tools.
   
2. We recognise the relationship between improving teacher wellbeing and further improving children and young people’s wellbeing and learning outcomes. Through partnership working, including social dialogue and collective bargaining, we will seek to make progress on commitments to reduce teacher workload, and to support and empower teachers, towards improving recruitment and retention across the profession.
   
3. We want to ensure all children and young people develop a broad range of knowledge, understanding, skills and capacities to enable them to thrive and to shape the world in the interests of equality, democracy, peace, and social and climate justice. We recognise the critical role of teachers in this complex endeavour and the need to support them and to trust in their professionalism. We will work together to ensure the right balance in the curriculum at all stages from 3-18 to enable quality learning and teaching around all capacities, ensuring relevant opportunities for quality professional learning for teachers and time for them to engage in it, and to further the empowerment agenda in our school communities.