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Leadership stories: whatnovices learn by crafting thestories of experienced school

administratorsArnold B. Danzig

School of Education, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado,USA

IntroductionOne of the common complaints about professional programmes in general, andcourses in educational administration in particular, is a lack of appreciation forthe realities of the workplace (Jacobson and Conway, 1990; Murphy, 1990).Teachers and administrators remember their training with some fondness, saysLortie (1975), but they do not feel that it is relevant to the complex work theyperform. One way to explain the difference between formal schooling andworkplace realities is to view it as the gap between theory and practice; oneimplication is to build training programmes around a more meaningfulconception of the practitioner’s world than is presently the case (Hallinger et al.,1993; Leithwood and Steinbach, 1993; 1995; Murphy, 1990).

It should not be surprising that school administrators new to the jobinevitably feel clumsy, unsure of themselves and need help in how to thinkabout the problems of practice. While administrative preparation programmesnecessarily focus on deeper understanding of the knowledge base within theprofession, a greater challenge is providing opportunities to apply thisknowledge in actual performances on the job. Because leadership requiresthought and action, it is not as simple as mastering a handful of principles withnear universal generality. Expertise requires knowledge, practice andexperience; and if university programmes are to prepare people to perform theirduties better than they have in the past, formal education will have to beexpanded to include the experiences which are now available only on the job(Gardner, 1989; Ohde and Murphy, 1993).

The movement from novice to expert is advanced as practitioners are able tomake explicit their thinking and problem-solving processes (Danzig and Harris,1996; Hallinger et al., 1993; Leithwood and Steinbach, 1993; 1995). Experts donot face simple isolated problems but, rather, dynamic situations involvingcomplex and interwoven problems (Schön, 1991). For training to be successful,novices must develop reflective skills by which it is possible to learn from theirexperience and the experiences of others.

Journal of EducationalAdministration, Vol. 35 No. 2, 1997,pp. 122-137. © MCB UniversityPress, 0957-8234

Received July 1996Revised November 1996Accepted January 1997

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One promising approach is through stories, the exploration of livedexperiences, as they provide a basis for understanding how people think andact in the world. Stories provide a way for novices to move from the superficialto deeper issues embedded in their studies. Stories lead to new understandingsof how expertise is gained in the real world by linking the study of leadershipto professional practice. Research suggests that novices welcome the challengeof confronting real school issues (Hart, 1993; Short and Rinehart, 1993).

Narrative research, as a way to enhance professional growth, is gainingacceptance among researchers interested in understanding and improvingprofessional practice (Clandinin and Connelly, 1991; Richardson, 1994; Schön,1991). One approach to narrative research is to construct “stories” of practice asa basis of reflection. Less has been written on whether or how narrativeresearch might assist novices in developing expertise.

Research approachThe purpose of this research was to study the kinds of understandings andreflections administrators-in-training experience when writing stories ofpractice. Seventeen graduate students participated in the study. They wereenrolled in an elective course entitled “Reflective Leadership” being offered at acomprehensive state university located in a major city in the south-west USA.The university serves junior and senior undergraduates and has Master’s levelgraduate programmes only. The students were all certified teachers enrolled ina Master’s programme in educational administration or working on statelicensure requirements for educational administrators. Each student selected apractising school administrator for interviews and follow-up. In an initialinterview, the school administrators were asked to talk about their ownpersonal biographies and entry into education and educational administration(see Appendices 1 and 2 for a description of the initial assignment andinterview). In a second interview, administrators were invited to reconstruct aspecific problem or situation they had dealt with in which they had played aleadership role. The problem or situation was to be discrete rather thanongoing, and involve others inside and outside the school setting – students,parents, staff, other administrators, or outside agencies or institutions. Theresolution, if any, was also to be discussed.

All interviews were taped and transcribed. The administrators-in-training(novices) then crafted these into “stories of professional practice”, which werereviewed by the participating administrators for accuracy and to ensure thatthe administrators were comfortable with the way they were presented in thestory. The administrators-in-training concluded the stories with their owncomments and reflections of what they had learned from the experience.

FindingsTable I looks at some of the characteristics of the administrators selected forinterview and includes data on the gender match between novices andexperienced administrators. Table II looks more to some of the content of the

interviews. The focus is on the personal biography, career development, keyvalues expressed, and the critical incident explored in the stories of practice.

Table I presents some of the demographic and experiential data about theadministrators who were selected by the novices for interviews. Of the 17administrators selected, 15 were of the same gender as the novice doing theinterview. This may speak to the comfort levels and importance of gendermatching for professional mentoring. Students commented that they used theinterviews as opportunities to get to know their supervisors or districtadministrators better and as an opportunity to be mentored.

Table II presents information concerning professional biography, keyadministrative values expressed and the critical incident explored in thestudent interviews and stories.

Geographic movement of the administrators was apparent in the stories andthis often meant accepting lower positions as the administrators moved to thelarger metropolitan areas. The importance of experience as a special educationteacher and administrator is also identified in the career information, as is itsimportance to subsequent administrative tasks (working with parents, workingwith other teachers, collaboration). Both of these issues may be gender-linkedand more typical of the paths to administration for women than for men.Similarly, the key values expressed such as “caring, collegiality, participatory”may be indicative of the largely female sample. One other thing which comesfrom the interviews, but which is not necessarily apparent from Table II, aresome of the difficult paths that these administrators faced early on in their lives;

Gender match: Approximate ApproximateCurrent (yes or no: number of years number of years

Student administrative administrator/ of teaching of administrativecase position novice) experience experience

1 Assistant principal Yes; F/F Unknown First year2 Elementary principal Yes; F/F Unknown 10+3 High school principal Yes; F/F 15 114 Assistant principal Yes; F/F 9 5+5 Elementary principal Yes; F/F 6 Unknown6 Principal Yes; M/M Unknown 10+7 Assistant principal Yes; F/F Unknown Unknown8 High school assistant principal Yes; F/F 14 59 Principal of a private school Yes; F/F 19 4

10 Assistant principal Yes; F/F Unknown Unknown11 Superintendent Yes; F/F 3+ 1512 Assistant principal Yes; F/F 19 213 Assistant principal Yes; M/M 17 1714 Principal No; F/M 3 10+15 Principal No; F/M Unknown Unknown16 Principal Yes; F/F 5+ 5+17 Principal Yes; F/F 3-5 5+

Table I.Summary of data aboutadministrators selectedfor interview

Story Professional biography Key values expressed Critical incident

1. Special education teacher, Fair person; best to be Investigation of rape casedepartment chair, consistent; advocate forassistant principal children

2. Teacher, assistant Facilitator; everybody has Ongoing meetings andprincipal, elementary something to contribute placement of child withprincipal, middle school and this is so for children multiple handicapsprincipal and adults

3. Assistant principal, then Do what you love and Multi-million dollar grantprincipal at two different forget all distractions; application without supporthigh schools carefully weigh all of local teachers association

possible reactions beforemaking critical decisions

4. Special education teacher, I value relationships; Student sits on second storyadministrator; first year support for staff and ledge threatening suicide.as assistant principal students. Sees herself as Decision not to call police

facilitator until following day to seekhelp

5. Rural schoolteacher, to “I serve people, that’s my Working with parents andcity teacher, assistant role.” Morale building key understanding when to pushprincipal, principal aspect to job; treat people and when to pull

as you would have themtreat you

6. Teacher, assistant “Don’t react before Student liaison with custodialprincipal at 25, principal investigating.” “You must employee. Due process ofat 32 really check things out.” employee ignored

7. Teacher, pre-school “A problem doesn’t go First grader brings weaponsdirector, assistant away by not dealing with to school. Angry parentsprincipal it.” “Get involved early.” defined as being in denial

8. High school teacher and “Teamwork – chain as Friday afternoon fight withcoach for 14 years; now strong as its weakest involvement of manyassistant principal link.” students and police

9. Teacher for 19 years; “Buck stops here.” Balancing teachers’principal at private recommendation or parentschool request in subsequent year’s

classroom placement of child

10. First job in business/race “Not here to win Hostile parent threatensrelations. Aide, teacher, popularity contest.” Treat teacher. Violent person withbilingual teacher, people with respect and long criminal recordassistant principal understand there are two

sides to every story

11. Teacher, federal programmes Life is too short to stay in Junior high school studentdirector, assistant things you don’t like; brings gun to school andsuperintendent, and important to like what another brings ammunitionsuperintendent you are doing and be

challenged (Continued)

Table II.Elements of the stories

and cases ofadministrative practice

two of the stories address the death of one or both parents; two administratorscontracted polio at around the age of 12; and one was a single teenage mother.These stories suggest that many administrators interviewed faced difficultchallenges early on in life; the fact that they were not defeated by themcontributes to an overall perception that difficult situations are a challengerather than a possible defeat.

Table III looks at some of the key ideas expressed in the reflections bystudents (administrators-in-training). Students were not very critical of theadministrators nor of their handling of the specific incident. This is notsurprising considering the relationship between novice and experienced personand the self-selection of incidents by the administrators. Student case 3 isinteresting because it is more critical of the experienced administrator, and sheis interviewing the principal of her own school with which she is more familiar.

Story Professional biography Key values expressed Critical incident

12. 19 years as a teacher, Collegiality and Having to expel child frominternship, and now collaboration her style; bus; wellbeing of one child orassistant principal children come first safety of many

13. Taught out of country and Service to clients. “Go into Dealing with drunk andin country for 17 years, the job not as some violent student.assistant principal for big-shot but as a service Recommendation for17 years person for teachers, expulsion not supported at

students, and parents” school board hearing

14. Teacher, assistant “It’s the small things Mediate impasse amongprincipal, special which blind side you once teachers over scheduling ateducation director, and in a while.” Approach high school. Takes Gandhiprincipal things in a business way approach to give a little, take

a little

15. Teacher, headteacher, and “School is almost like a Hostage situation inhigh school principal baseball team, where all classroom with police

are competing.” A little involvement. Second incidentcompetition is good with police called to

investigate drugs on campus

16. Teacher, reading “If you work hard and Directed to acceptspecialist, director of prepare yourself, things involuntary transfer fromelementary education, will happen; you can’t another school. Leads totitle I supervisor and please all the people all the recommendation for medicalelementary school time; sometimes, there’s leaveprincipal just gut feelings.”

17. PE teacher, part time “Times when you have to Student found with drugs. teacher/administrator, be black and white and Police ask permission to assistant principal, times that it is not interrogate without parental principal appropriate; you hope you approval and eventually

can know the difference arrest parents.between the two” Student receives drug

rehabilitationTable II.

Student case Student reflections

1. The caring administrator tries to deal with student, her family, non-threateninginvestigation of teacher’s responsibility. “She felt that her role as an administrator wasnot to be in charge of people, as some see it, but to be there for the different people shemust work with daily – teachers, classified staff, students, parents – and be theiradvocate and help them in any way that she could, all the while displaying a caring,open attitude”

2. Administrators overcome obstacles; alternatively, school is one of the few positives inlives that are less positive

3. Teachers are feeling overwhelmed and burned-out. I attribute these feelings to the factthat M. does not use a team approach. She likes to show power. She repeatedly showsshe does not understand the culture of the school by not listening to what teachers aresaying to her…I believe she takes no ownership in the problem that occurred. Duringthe problem she showed no ability to foresee a dilemma; therefore she was not preparedto react appropriately to the situation. Student concludes that, “an administrator mustapproach major school decisions from a team approach”

“At times I am anxious to enter the world of school administration, and at othermoments I feel I would have more of an impact by remaining a mathematics teacher,teaching my 150 students. The future can only know what path I will choose”

4. a. Strength of belief in herself; lacking domain specific knowledge, one relies on ownvalues and beliefs for guidance

b. Evidence of organization as she contacts several people and agenciesc. Reacts calmly to situationd. Learned to trust her instinctse. Role of principal as facilitatorf. Number one rule, do what is best for the childg. Respect chain of commandh. Personal values consistent with professional practice

5. Time and time again I saw similarities or parallels in what Janet was saying and whatwe have read or discussed in class. In particular, how she perceived her role asprincipal…caring ethic…issues of power and empowerment, parent involvement, trust

6. Principal open and likes the unity of the group working together to solve problems.Principal is high risk taker; at the time, administrator used his best judgement and actedon it. It was the correct decision for him and I respect him for acting on his beliefs.

7. Administrator looks at school district administration as an extension of her family.Very loyal and supportive administrator. Reflects on importance of trust betweenschool and parents

8. “Her use of anticipation could easily be overlooked…Examples of this in Connie’spractice would be calling the students in only after having written reports of behaviourto avoid unfairly accusing a student, calling the student in with their friends to avoidmore conflicts in the office, and finally prioritizing which students needed to beremoved from campus the quickest to avoid flare-ups at lunch time…”

“The principal must narrow it down to the most important issues, dealing withthose quickly and fairly. Her handling of students in a quick and fair fashion doesconnect to her own description of her personal qualities. In describing herself asprocessing honesty, integrity, and trustworthiness she is listing the qualities she findsmost important about herself. In the study of this one case of her practice she showsherself to be non-judgemental in dealing with the students (‘I am not here to make ajudgement about a student, but to enforce policy’) and fair (‘my job is not to bring instudents without documentation of their involvement’)” (Continued)

Table III.Summary of novice

reflections

Student case Student reflections

9. Recognition that child lost by not getting help to support social relationships that wasneeded. Student sees administrator as doing her homework and collaborating withteachers

10. Importance of courage, strength and determination. Student recognizes frustration ofadministrator who says “I can only do so much”. Student recognizes administrator’sability to draw from other experiences (finance, human relations, race relations) and“reframing” to seek new possibilities

11. Administrator “has created a mindset in which she examines each situation on itsindividual merits and attempts to come to a solution which has the best interests of allthe students in mind”. Instead of following policy on weapons with automaticexpulsion, she creates solutions to meet needs of student, school, and community

Student sent to another school and not just expelledPublic is shown that weapons are not tolerated on campusRest of students show safety key concern of school/administrationBoard satisfied that district mission upheld

“It is this attention to detail prior to having an actual crisis that makes thissuperintendent so successful…She thinks out strategies in advance and makes surethat the district personnel understand the part they are to play and what is expected ofthem. This is a very proactive person…”

“By maintaining open lines of communication, the crisis is contained and handledwithout major disruption of the district’s operation”

12. Administrator learns to deal with sense of failure when suspending a child. Lots ofinteraction with child, parent, on telephone and in person prior to suspension. Safetyhazard takes priority over individual welfare. She recognizes child may have moresevere problem (causing the behaviour problems on the bus) but parent unwilling tohave child evaluated. (Why this is the case is not questioned by student)

13. “ I felt the genuine concern A. has for his teachers, staff, and students. He has found hiswork to be very inspiring and uplifting and always focused on improvement ofeducation…(and) betterment of students”

14. Importance of family (particularly mother) to decision to go into education. Importanceof acts of kindness to continuing in the field. Connection to Bennis encourages studentto read and view Bennis videotapes

Idea of anticipation (for crisis management). Importance of willingness to deal withall possible situations. Focus on little things and big things will take care of themselvesis seen as important part of administrative strategy

15. Principal is competent and reflective. Student notices differences in portrayals of blue-collar community and white-collar community and community’s acceptance of hisauthority. Principal’s perception of community shapes perception of legitimacy ofdemands/requests

16. Principal is patient, fair and cautious. Although teachers have procedural due process,welfare of children is a more important goal to pursue

17. There are different members of educational community: educators, student, parents,community. Effectiveness equals balance of these four perspectives and is required ofall participantsTable III.

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A second theme which comes out of the student reflection is the connection ofstory themes to class readings, discussion, and assignments. This is true for allthe stories, and explicitly mentioned by student 5; it is more implicit in thereflections by students 8, 11, 14 and 17, who raise issues relating to anticipation,caring, collaboration, reframing, key themes of the reading and discussion.

Students do hear about some of the grey areas in which administratorstypically operate. The events and incidents described in these stories movebeyond simple recipes of practice and include more tacit knowledge related toperformances and how people act in certain situations. Drama and dilemmasare found in many of the stories which generate student interest and reflection.In addition, novices get to listen to others talking about everyday or mundanepractice. For example, student case 14 specifically points to the importance ofthe “small things” to administrative practice. The extent to which this tacitinformation is learned is less clear, but at least it is more explicit in these storiesof practice.

A rationale for crafting storiesStories enhance the understanding and growth in professional practice (Barone,1990; 1992; Baum, 1991; Bennis, 1989; Carter, 1993; Clandinin and Connelly,1991; Greenwood, 1991; Leithwood and Steinbach, 1995; Schön, 1991; Terry,1993). Issues related to school culture, personal relations, values and beliefs, andrituals and myths, take on more meaning as they are presented in stories ofpractice. These issues are sometimes overlooked or ignored in the rush of dailyexperience and in the recitation of abstract principles. Stories allow beginners toconsider and inspect the informal or tacit systems which exist side-by-side withthe formal manifest systems operating in schools and organizations. Noviceswould gain from richer descriptions of the processes which classify ambiguousand large amounts of information; they would learn from descriptions of howleaders view and subsequently act on problems which contain only partialinformation, judgements and conflicting expectations by the individuals andorganizations involved.

Storytelling is a fundamental means of personal and social growth(Clandinin and Connelly, 1991). Seeing and describing stories in the everydayactions of others – teachers, students and administrators – is an educationalexperience. Stories allow one to look at the experiential whole, not componentparts. By doubting, then deliberating, and reflecting on meanings, theory andpractice are brought closer together. Clandinin and Connelly (1991) use the storyof a school principal and the importance of his image of school as a communityto understand his administrative actions. They also point to a counter story –one of administrative hegemony – that of an authoritarian principal telling hisfaculty when, where and how to celebrate the end of the year. How does one puttogether one’s own interpretation of a story with the storyteller’s view? Thehoped for recognition is that there is more than one true story of practice.

Stories provided an opportunity for practising administrators to share theirexperiences with novices. Many people enjoy sharing personal and professional

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experiences, especially with someone who is less experienced. Beginners havethe opportunity to develop new relationships and find new empathies in the oldrelationships. Stories emphasize the value of both theory and practice,experience and reflection. Research suggests that novices welcome thechallenge of confronting real school issues (Hart, 1993; Short and Rinehart,1993).

Situating learning in the stories of administrative practice is likely to makethe new knowledge more meaningful and usable (Hallinger et al., 1993;Leithwood and Steinbach, 1995). The importance of prior knowledge alsochanges. Prior knowledge is part of the weighting that goes on in problem-solving activity, rather than the sole determinant of its course of action. Priorknowledge may determine more how leaders think about a problem or situationthan how they come up with a solution. If, as others have argued, expertise is afunction of the complexity of the network of relationships among existingknowledge structures with variations, then stories may provide a moremeaningful way to access knowledge and apply it.

What is a leadership story?The story is a model for examining the underlying experiences of thestoryteller, and the filters through which one views professional practice.Reflecting on the story of practice leads to greater understanding ofprofessional motives and workplace practices. Gardner (1995) uses the termstories to focus more on the dynamic perspective; not just headline or snapshot,but a drama which unfolds over time. These are stories in which leaders andfollowers are principal characters or heroes. Such stories are stories of identity,and the leaders who succeed are able to convey a new version of an old story ora given group’s story or identity. The story is effective in that it fits – the storymakes sense to audience members, at a particular time, about where they havebeen and where they would like to go.

Schön (1991) says that there are different types of stories of practice. Storiesmay be manifest stories as they present a point and try to explain howsomething operates. Some stories are meta-stories, in that they raise basicconcepts or viewpoints of how to consider experience from a “self-story”perspective. Many stories contain casual explanations. These stories have aninherent drama which builds towards casual explanations of behaviours andends with an illumination which would otherwise remain mysterious.Underlying stories look at some of the interpersonal relationships within thestories. The reader gets to see some of the “hidden parts of the iceberg”, in theways in which people participate in organizations to perform tasks and growpersonally. The goal of all stories is to connect the explicit, formal, symbolicpresentations of knowledge and the practical know-how found in individuals’effective actions. This connects the privileged discourse of universities with thesmart hands of experience. Effective education and training of leaders movesback and forth between the two (Schön, 1991, pp. 342-5).

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Overt and covert storiesStories tell us about life as seen from the inside (Mattingly, 1991). They drawand evoke empathetic identification among listeners. Stories illustrate thepractical theories, the deeply held images and moral principles which guideactions. Storytelling is a natural way in which we represent experiences. Evenwhen people cannot tell you what they did or why, they may be able to explainwhat they mean with a story. Stories enable professionals to learn about theimportance of their own stories and the basically interpretative nature of theirwork. There are overt stories which are direct and propositional accounts, aswell as more covert or latent stories found in the actions and a vision of lifeembodied in those actions. How willing people are to share stories of their workmay depend on their organizational culture.

Richness of descriptionsThe story allows the novice to listen to the inner thinking and dialogue of thepractitioner. In part, the student hears the reflection-on-action (Schön, 1991) ofa practising administrator. The story is, by definition, a reconstruction ofevents which have already happened. As such, there is a reduction ofcomplexity by the storyteller. However, the novice is presented withvocabulary and concepts embedded in the story of practice, which have to dowith broader administrative issues such as discipline, due process, safety,decision making, etc.

Recognizing complexity of personal and practical knowledgeWriting a story helps the writer to become more aware of his/her ownexperiences and more critical of underlying theories which inform a particularunderstanding of the world. The goal for the writer is to look at alternativeinterpretations of the events, and what goes into crafting believableinterpretations. In so doing, the writer begins to get a sense of his or her ownstandards concerning the credibility or believability of one explanation versusits alternatives. Rigour in the study of practice is to come up with, or generate,compare and discriminate among, multiple representations of phenomena. Thereflective person comes up with alternate casual stories and sees how well theycan be refuted. This leads to a somewhat paradoxical stance: all stories aresomeone’s constructions. Yet the story writer must strive to test theseconstructions by bringing to the surface and discriminating among alternateaccounts.

On what is learned from writing leadership storiesAs stated earlier, the goal of writing a story of practice is to enhance thenovice’s learning the “how to” of practice. Through study of a specific case, thestudent connects theory to practice. The case provides knowledge from theformal and informal systems needed to make good decisions. This builds abridge from novice to expert practice and enhances the ability to learn fromexperience.

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Richness of belief systemPart of the learning asks about the extent to which the narratives capture thebeliefs and knowledge of the storyteller. In Story 8, for example, the schooladministrator begins with discussion of her background. Growing up in a smallcommunity and the importance of team participation and teamwork becomepart of her administrative story. The personal characteristics and values towhich she subscribes are cited: “. . .integrity, honesty, and trustworthiness asbeing the ideas she has built her life upon”. She explains that: “it is easier towork for someone that is honest because you always know where you stand...”

This begins an exploration of the importance of values in administrativedecision making, and differences between the practitioner’s professional valuesand personal values (teamwork, honesty and integrity). The storytellerconnects personal values, as constructed in the narrative, to be relevant to thehandling of the case. At the same time, personal values are seen to be almostsecondary to professional values. Connie (the administrator) is quoted as saying“I am not here to make a decision about a student, but to enforce policy” and thisis cited to explain how the fight situation was handled. The student gainsunderstanding of professional problem solving and its relationship to personaland professional values.

Recognition of complexity of personal and practical knowledgeThe student’s analysis of the story provides an opportunity to recognize someof the complexity of the performance which has been described. In the analysisof story 8 the student writes:

Her use of anticipation could easily be overlooked...Examples of this in Connie’s practicewould be calling the students in only after having written reports of behaviour to avoidunfairly accusing a student, calling the student in with their friends to avoid more conflicts inthe office, and finally prioritizing which students needed to be removed from campus thequickest to avoid flare-ups at lunchtime...(Student reflection on story 8).

In an another example, the student comments on how administrators are calledon to make decisions which will affect the lives of students and teachers in theschool. She asks how the administrator comes to act confidently and efficientlyin unique situations and she draws on the story to conclude:

the principal must narrow it down to the most important issues, dealing with those quicklyand fairly. Her handling of students in a quick and fair fashion does connect to her owndescription of her personal qualities. In describing herself as processing honesty, integrity, andtrustworthiness she is listing the qualities she finds most important about herself. In the studyof this one case of her practice she shows herself to be non-judgmental in dealing with thestudents (“I am not here to make a decision about a student, but to enforce policy”) andfairness (not bring in students without documentation of their involvement) (Studentreflection on story 8).

The student’s crafting of the story, discussion and subsequent analysis areimportant sources of learning. While she is a novice administrator, as a teachershe is already familiar with many aspects of the school environment.Preparation of the case allows her to explore how an experienced person solves

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a complex problem and how her own thinking and solution might be similarand different. This leads to recognition of multiple perspectives by which aphenomenon is defined as a problem, and of the way in which the many optionswhich are considered as problems are managed in the world.

ConclusionThe goal of this paper was to explore the use of stories to enhance the reflectivepractice of prospective school administrators. The professional literature pointsto the need for training programmes to bridge the gap between theory andpractice by drawing from communities of practitioners. However, practice doesnot necessarily mean expert practice; nor does experience guarantee that onehas learned from it. Stories allow practice to be more carefully scrutinized.

There are multiple goals and outcomes for administrative practice fromcollecting and writing administrators’ stories or narratives. One goal is forstudents to consider and inspect the informal systems which exist side-by-sidewith the formal systems operating in schools. Issues related to school culture,personal relations, values and beliefs and rituals and myths, take on moremeaning as they are presented in stories of practice. These issues are sometimesoverlooked or ignored in the rush of daily experience and in the recitation ofabstract principles.

Stories provided an opportunity for practising administrators to share theirexperiences. Many people enjoy sharing personal and professional experiences,particularly with someone who is less experienced. Although we have collectedno data directly from the storytellers, students report that new relationshipsand new empathies in old relationships are formed.

There were many discoveries concerning biography, leadership andleadership development which came out of the stories. People become leadersbecause they make choices (usually difficult at the time) to do somethingpositive in their lives. None of the storytellers identified themselves as childprodigies; all were surprised at their success. Leaders identified a core set ofvalues and beliefs by which they operate, which included caring, empathy andhumanism. Leaders talked about the culture of the organization, of constantlyquestioning the status quo, and working effectively with political leaders at alllevels.

There is a change in how students appreciate stories as they move from theinterviews, to transcripts and, finally, to the actual writing of the story. Studentsstruggle with trying to capture the story completely. They express concern withmaintaining the voice of the storyteller and struggle over whether to writestories in the first or third person. They have to address what makes for a goodstory, how not to bore the reader. Sharing the story with the teller is a higherstandard than a course assignment or grade.

As the story took form, students began to identify some of the differencesbetween how they might have constructed the problem and how theexperienced administrator constructed the situation. This led students toconsider their own values, their own choices in what to select as important in

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the story, and what seems peripheral. It allowed students to examine their ownfilters, or biases, in order to get a more complete understanding of what isimportant to them, and how this influences how they handle problems orspecific situations. Thus, the story allowed students to learn from anexperienced administrator and to reflect on the limits of experience.

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Lortie, D.L. (1975), Schoolteacher: A Sociological Study, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.Mattingly, C. (1991), “Narrative reflections on practical actions: two learning experiments in

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Murphy, J. (1990), “Preparing school administrators for the twenty-first century: the reformagenda”, in Educational Leadership and Changing Contexts in Families, Communities, andSchools, NSSE and University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, pp. 232-51.

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Ohde, K. and Murphy, J. (1993), “The development of expertise: implications for schooladministrators”, in Hallinger, P., Leithwood, K. and Murphy, J. (Eds), Cognitive Perspectives onEducational Leadership, Teachers College Press, New York, pp. 75-87.

Richardson, V. (1994), “Conducting research on practice”, Educational Researcher, Vol. 23 No. 5,pp. 5-10.

Schön, D. (Ed.) (1991), The Reflective Turn: Case studies in and on Educational Practice, TeachersCollege Press, New York, NY.

Short, P. and Rinehart, J. (1993), “Reflection as a means of developing expertise”, EducationalAdministration Quarterly, Vol. 29 No. 4. pp. 501-21.

Terry, R. (1993), Authentic Leadership, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.

Appendix 1: Assignment: case study of administrator practiceIntroductionOne of the major themes of our class is the nature of professional practice. The argument is thatprofessionals learn not only from technical reports and scientific understanding of practice, butalso from narratives, written and perhaps visual stories about practice. Such stories offerparticipants and others a better understanding of the personal and practical knowledge thatpractitioners use and how it shapes their career approaches and subsequent development.

If you would like a specific example, look at chapter 12 in Schön’s book entitled “Narrative andStory in Practice and Research” by D. Jean Clandinin and F. Michael Connelly. The example looksat some of the importance of the principal’s biography in determining his rationale for decisionmaking.

The TaskThis task asks you to become a researcher by interviewing an educational administratorconcerning administrative practice. You will need to locate an administrator and interview thatadministrator at least twice during the semester.

In order to make the task more focused, I am asking that you focus your interviews on adiscrete problem or situation. For example, you might ask the administrators to focus on anincident in which they dealt with children who have multiple needs (educational, social services,medical, legal). I would be particularly interested in administrators’ interactions with families,how they think about and interact with children and families in order to co-ordinate services.More than likely, there will be a presented problem that led to administrative involvement butthere may be exceptions.

ProcedureSeek a participant and in an initial meeting, explain what you want to do and gain that person’sagreement to participate. Try to establish a climate of trust. Be open about your needs and goalsfor the project and be honest about the time commitment required. Discuss the procedure youintend to follow and raise the issue of confidentiality. Be scrupulous in maintainingconfidentiality throughout the project. Do not identify the administrator, the student, or familyinvolved, in class discussion or in the writing.

Gathering data. After this initial contact, you have a number of options. You will probablyneed to prepare some sort of interview questions about the specific case. There may be recordsand documents that you could examine. You may want to read other information concerning theproblem or issue involved in the case.

I then would like you to tape record the first and second interviews. The tape should then betranscribed. I would like you to hand in both a typed copy of each transcript and a disk with yourname and the type of software used (i.e. DOS Wordperfect or MAC MS Word, etc.). This should bedone for both of your interviews.

You may also want to look at the current context of the problem and how it may affect theadministrator’s beliefs and practices. Context is both the larger socio-cultural and political

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context or it might be the more immediate social or political context, the demands of a family orchild in crisis, the demands of superior or organization, etc.

What connections do you see between this administrator and yourself? Can you see parallelsbetween this person’s experiences and ideas and your own? What insights have you gained onyour own professional work by writing this administrator’s story?

The reportThe format you are to follow is this document. You paper should be approximately 1,500-2,000words. You may present the administrator’s story in any way you deem appropriate and youmight include drawings, visuals, photographs, etc. One of my colleagues had a student who did asimilar project involving a larger group and developed a sketch to portray belief systems. Whilethe sketch went through many drafts and versions, after hearing the story, people recognizedwhat the sketch meant and it was a powerful reminder of belief system.

Your story should be written in easy-to-read style that will be meaningful to otheradministrators. It should not read like a research report. While you may use references to helpsupport your conclusions, it may be better to integrate these comments in the text of the paper.Otherwise, you might include an addendum.

Presentation. You should prepare a one page summary to share your insights with othermembers of the class. You may either Xerox copies or make a poster of some sort which you candisplay to class members. Researchers do poster sessions at conferences and this might give youpractice. You will have approximately 15 minutes to present your work to other class members (insmall groups or to the whole class).

Criteria for assessment

Your project will be judged on the following criteria:

(1) The richness of the description of the administrator’s beliefs and knowledge, professionaldevelopment and actions.

(2) Evidence of understanding about administrator’s personal practical knowledge and howthis is developed.

(3) Use of sound data gathering and organizing strategies.

(4) Quality of utilization of information from relevant literature.

(5) Existence of a clear “data trail” that allows the reader to connect comments with concretedata.

(6) Level of analysis of information and ability to synthesize into a coherent and meaningfulwhole.

(7) Evidence of personal reflection about your own practical knowledge.

(8) Quality of written expression and presentation.

Appendix 2: Start-up proceduresAdministrator Interview Start-up SheetThe purpose of this sheet is to move you along with the interviews required for the end-of-semester assignment. Since there is no class next week, you might use this opportunity to contactan administrator for your study. Let them know what is involved in the assignment. Ask them ifthey would be willing to participate.

1. Your Name: _________________________________________________________

2. Initial Contact:

a) On what basis did you decide to select the administrator? (friend, casualacquaintance, immediate supervisor, district level, opportunity to get to knowsomeone, etc.)

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b) Was your initial contact face-to-face, telephone, e-mail, etc.?

c) Have you set a date for this first interview? If yes, when and where?

time: ______________________

date/day of week: ____________

place: ______________________

d) Have you scheduled a date for follow-up interview/visit? Yes or no. ________.

If yes, when? ____________

3. Ask for permission to tape the interview? Transcribe a five-minute segment of aninterview so you get a feel for what this involves and how long it takes. If you’ve done theinterview already, attach transcript for comments. If not, when will you hand the firsttranscripts?

4. What questions did you raise in this initial interview? (Focus should include biographicalinformation, educational background, significant others, mentors, etc.)

Some examples: When did you decide to become an administrator?What and who influenced your decision?What is your education background and experience?Where did you grow up? go to school? What kind of student were you? Have you ever left education? What factors related to your returning tothe field? Who were significant others that influenced you? What are some of the high points of your career? What are some of your experiences with collaborative decisions?

Focus of this first interview should be simply to get permission, to establish some rapport withthe person, to get to know the person better, to find out about their educational and personalbiography.

5. What word processing system and for which computer will you be using? Please keep alltranscripts of interviews on disk, to be handed in at the end of the semester.

______________________________________________________________________

Word processing system and computer used

6. Anything else that happened at interview that you thought was interesting and wouldlike to share.