From its earliest days, the EIS has sought to collaborate with teacher unions beyond Scotland’s borders. 

A plaque in HQ acknowledges the work of George Cossar Pringle, for example, an early general secretary whose work contributed to the foundation of the World Federation of Teacher Associations in the early part of the 20th century. 

A particularly important partnership for the EIS was with the National Union of Teachers, which organised elsewhere in the UK but not in Scotland. This partnership continues today, following the merger in 2017 of the NUT with the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, to create the National Education Union. 

The Institute was also a founding member of the British Irish Group of Teacher Unions (BIGTU), which was formed in 1977 and continues to this day, involving all of the major Irish and UK teacher unions. 

Larry Flanagan, current general secretary of the EIS, is also president of the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE), which represents more than 11 million members across 127 trade unions and 51 countries.

ETUCE constitutes the European arm of Educational International, the global federation that continues the tradition initiated by Cossar Pringle and his colleagues in the earliest days of the Institute. Flanagan follows on from his predecessor, Ronnie Smith, who served two terms in the same post.