A learning odyssey: the trials, tribulations and successes of the Educational Institute of Scotland’s further education and teacher learning representatives

Abstract

For the past decade, I have been observing, researching and reporting on a group of Scottish further education lecturers and schoolteachers, who, through their trade union activities, have had a significant impact on their colleagues’ engagement with post-compulsory education and professional development. They are members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) and are unpaid lay volunteers who are trained and accredited as Union Learning Representatives (ULRs). They have a specific remit of advising and guiding colleagues in all matters relating to post-compulsory education and professional development. The article will detail how from very humble beginnings this group has become an indispensable element of the Scottish education system. It will show how these ULRs, many of whom had not been involved in trade union or political activism, are now regarded as experts in the field of post-compulsory education and professional development. They regularly work with key stakeholders such as the Scottish Government, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education and local authorities, and hold major positions within the EIS and on the General Teaching Council for Scotland. They have evolved as leaders within their institutions, the EIS and the Scottish education system more by accident than design. These developments indicate that they may well become key players in the construction and implementation of future local and national post-compulsory education and professional development policy. The article will be underpinned by the academic concepts of ‘wounded learners’, ‘organic intellectual growth’ and ‘emerging teacher leaders through professional development engagement’.