In a possible softening of its position, the ASTI will today attend a meeting with Department of Education officials about supervision and substitution cover.
Until now, the ASTI had been refusing to take part in any discussions on supervision until its still unresolved pay dispute with the Government is settled.
The meeting, which will also be attended by the other teacher unions and by management bodies, is designed to discuss a range of issues before the start of the new school year.
But with the teaching unions pressing for an allowance of more than £20 an hour for supervision and substitution cover, this issue is set to dominate. At present teachers are not paid for these duties and do them voluntarily.
Yesterday, the ASTI executive, or standing committee, met to review its pay strategy. The union has threatened to impose a policy of non-co-operation with extra-curricular activities during the new school term - unless its demand for a 30 per cent pay offer is met. But the union will have to ballot members before deciding on its next move.
At this stage it appears the prospect of industrial action next month has receded, although a meeting of the 180member ASTI central executive council in early September will sift through the various options.
The Department would like to pay an hourly rate to teachers for supervising pupils during break times, but the teaching unions favour an allowance at overtime rates.
Teachers also want generous allowances for covering as substitutes in the classroom.
These would be paid when teachers take a class where the original teacher is absent because of "uncertified sick leave or other approved absences".
The Department is also proposing that school managers should be free to hire non-teachers - such as parents - for supervision if teachers refuse to co-operate with the new system.
The current talks on supervision were set up after the Labour Court issued a recommendation during the ASTI dispute, saying it was an area worth examining.