Secondary teachers are reported to be moving away from a return to full-scale industrial action on their 30 per cent claim, according to sources in the ASTI.
The move comes as the union's head office warned some members about cancelling their monthly subscriptions.
Results of a survey on future direction by the union are currently being compiled, but several ASTI school representatives report that teachers have come out in favour of withdrawing their co-operation from the Department of Education, rather than full-scale industrial action.
The union's 17,000 members were asked to give their views on 12 future options, ranging from all-out strike action to entering the benchmarking body. A spokeswoman said the results would be presented on Saturday to the union's executive.
In a separate development, the union's head office has warned members not to cancel the automatic subscriptions they have with ASTI.
Some members, as a form of protest, have left the automatic subscription system, but head office has warned them this could result in them losing certain entitlements from the Department of Education.
Whole branches have left the automatic system in some cases. Instead of the Department of Education docking the subscription at source, the members chose to be responsible for the subscription themselves.
This means head office has to pursue subscriptions, and this stretched its resources.
The reason some teachers are also leaving the system is that they do not want the Department of Education to be able to identify them as ASTI members in the event of future work-to-rule action.
The survey results are expected to be complex, but options such as "withdrawal from extracurricular activities" and "refusal to co-operate with the implementation of new curricula, syllabi or programmes" are understood to have proved popular.
However, in line with previous votes, Dublin branches are reported to be most strongly in favour of resuming industrial action.
The union is still in disagreement with the Department of Education over supervision/substitution and next week it plans to issue a directive to members asking them to withdraw the service. It is not clear whether the results of the survey will affect this plan.
Union sources said yesterday the survey would show a strong mood against all-out strikes.
"There is very little consensus on the way forward, but few members want to repeat the strikes and exam problems from earlier this year," said one senior source yesterday.
Meanwhile, the TUI is to meet the Department of Education this week in an attempt to get the Government's offer of £27 per hour for supervision or substitution improved.
However, concessions on this offer are unlikely at present because the primary teachers' union, the INTO, has still to ballot its members.