Get involved, help to make Association policy! #
Submitting a motion to Council or Congress
Any member wishing to submit a motion to Council or Congress should discuss the matter at their District or Area meeting. Once there is agreement that the motion should be debated nationally, a motion pro-forma should be completed and passed to the District Secretary for signature prior to published deadlines. By forwarding the signed pro-forma to SSTA HQ the District Secretary will request that it be added to the Council or Congress Agenda. The District Secretary has a responsibility to ensure that motions are competent and in line with the guidance below.
What does a good motion look like?
Motions should be brief and to the point. They should not include sections of your speech which should be used to convince members of the merits of your motion.
The motion should be formed as follows:
- Say what the issue is that you wish to raise or what the Association is objecting to;
- say why this is the case (the problems it is causing);
- offer a solution – usually calling on someone to do something about it. (This would normally not apply when creating or altering Association policy)
In general a motion is more likely to be successful if it:
- contains new proposals
- is on a subject where the Association doesn’t have much policy and which hasn’t been debated at Council or Congress recently (i.e. not in the last 2 years);
- is likely to lead to debate.
If you need help drafting your motion, contact the President or General Secretary for advice.
A couple of examples
- This Association expresses grave concern about misuse of internet posting sites to harass, intimidate and defame teachers. The Association calls on the Scottish Government to co-operate with all appropriate regulatory bodies to ensure that owners of such sites are made responsible for the content therein.
- This Association reaffirms its total opposition to the lack of external assessment in the proposed National 4 award believing it to be divisive and educationally unsound.
At Council/Congress
- Preparation is vital.
- If you are proposing the motion you will have up to 10 minutes in which to state your case. Your seconder will have up to 5 minutes to support your proposal.
- After you have been heard the President will invite further contributions from the floor (possibly including amendments, which can be debated and voted on).
- You will then be given the opportunity to respond to any of the floor contributions, but not to introduce any new points.
- The President will then put the motion to the vote and the result will be declared.
