Alan Munro, president of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) teaching union, said the minister was guilty of an "obstinate refusal to listen" to widespread concerns over the roll-out of a controversial new school curriculum.

He also accused Mr Russell of "unilateral interference" and "disrespect" for his role in the scrapping of a scheme to improve the professionalism of teachers.

The attack, at the 166th annual meeting of the EIS in Dundee, comes at a difficult time for the Education Secretary.

Many teachers fear schools will not be ready for the introduction of new school exams that replace Standard Grade in 2013/14 as part of the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) reforms.

A Government-backed audit to find out the extent of concerns has already been dismissed as a whitewash because many teachers were not asked for their views – although the EIS has signed up to a £3.5 million Government support package to help deliver CfE.

There has also been unrest over the scrapping of the Chartered Teacher scheme, introduced more than a decade ago to improve training for senior classroom teachers in return for a salary increase.

On the issue of CfE, Mr Munro said: "Our members have told us, and continue to tell us, of the widespread need for more time to prepare and for more resources.

"We passed on this message clearly to the ... Cabinet Secretary, who seems to take a long time to begin to listen."

He added: "Even when he starts to acknowledge there is an issue, he does so grudgingly and still insists on sending out the message that he thinks that it is only a small number of departments or schools who are in difficulty and who will be requiring help.

"This help comes with a sinister threatening tone and with the promise of deep audit – as expected, this approach has not encouraged self-identification by the many schools and departments who we know require the additional resources."

Telling Mr Russell that "obstinate refusal to listen is not good leadership", Mr Munro switched his attack to the Chartered Teacher scheme, calling the minister's intervention "illogical and highly insensitive".

"Your unilateral interference in the debate, cutting across what should have been open and unconstrained negotiations on the future of the Chartered Teacher scheme, has been unhelpful in the extreme," he said.

"You have dismayed and demoralised some of the best teachers in the system. You have treated them and the negotiating structures with disrespect."

Mr Munro went on to call for an end to cuts to school staff as part of wider cost-savings by councils.

He highlighted recent examples of reductions in qualified teaching staff in nurseries, describing the moves as "inexplicable and educationally inept".

Other "easy targets" included instrumental teaching, classroom support, additional support needs staff and clerical staffing.

Mr Munro called for a return to ring-fenced funding, where specific projects are given direct financial support from the Scottish Government which councils cannot move to other budgets.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We view the EIS as a valuable partner in Scottish education and, as such, the EIS forms an important part of decision-making.

"Their input is important and very welcome, not least in the CfE audit that has helped Education Scotland to deliver that support direct to teachers.

"We have also recently come to an agreement on taking forward CfE."