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ions."" OftefiOOth aclm inistrators and teachers ope rate 00 a set 01 theories"",,-u"e wh"h do nOl match the espoused theo ries they discuss when asked 10 give a rationale for their professiooal practke," Tra<l itional conceptions of leade rs as those who occupy hierarchical positions within the organiza t>anal stroct<Ke and behave in prescIDed ways are an e.oellent e.ample of espoused Iheori~s which may not match the current viable form s of leaMrsh ip t:>oth at wo rk and possible in scho::>fs loday. Sometimes WOOle<l may simp~ be unaware that the theories upon which they actllal y base thei r practice differ from toose Ih(ly espou .... In other inS1aoces. the organizational culture does hOt enco urage them to explore de_iations from currently accepted edoJcatiooal theories. FUrlherrrore. theoriesin -use are difficult to tII"IGOver because l lley are onen derived through experience arld based on intuili1le or tacit koowledge Many scholars" ha_e argued thal practical krtO'Medge is often tacit. Howe_a r. much of th is know ledge can be uncovered through narrat;"'es or Siories of practice,"' As Ma1linglt" states ' Story tO il ing or swry analys is can faci li tate a kind of ,efl e<:tingtllat is often diNicult to do. a cons;deratio n (}f those ord in aril y tac it co nstructs th at guide practice. Stories po int toward deep beliefs arld assumptions that people often cannot tell in propositiona l or denolat ive form, th o "practkoal theories' arld deepfy held images tllat gui de th eir actions. Thus, rel lecti ng on sto ries of their pmfessio nal fives afklws women fn both teaching and aOO1inist,ative roles to learn from experiooce and provides them with a lternative future actk>ns. In other words, new possb i ties for women to """ th emselves.as leade<s. as _ I as new forms of leadershi' in sc:OOols are awak· ffII)(f throu:jl r>arrat;"'e, dialogue and critical ref""tk>n. What fol· Iow$ are e<amples of how the worneo in this study used narrativo and diak)gue 10 exami"" and learn from lheir own experience iVId to fnd n~w leadership poss.I:lilities for themse '-'es Reflecti on , here, can be defined as "a gene'iC term for those inte llectual arld affective act ivit ies in wh ich in di_idua ls engago to expiore their expe ri eoces in order 10 lead to new understand in g. and appreciation, "'" If reflection is the expl oration (}f experie<lce, the question klgkoally arises: "ReflectilXl up;::<l which e,perier1ces?" In 1his case, narrati.e provOjes the stl"U(Oture and express oo ot past experler.::e whd can then be reflected upon , Reflection ~ the profess<ona l experlel'lC<ls of others can take the form 01 case stud ies or case analysis." Ref lection up"" our own expe riences ca n take th e form of idootifying arld analyzing critical ir>:Oidents in au r profess>anal Or personal livos, Cri tical ref lecti on upon these experi ences moves beyond mere reflection and begins to critique the un· de~ying asw~tions arld presuppositioos upon which we baso or." t>eliefs arld actklns.'" BrookflekJ assMs tllat crit~al roflection has thre<> interreiated phases' 1) ide<ltifyingthe assur11ptions that undertie OUr t~~ and actoos~ 2) scrutin izin g the aoouracy arld validity of these in terms of oow tlley c~ to, 01" arC discrepant with, oor experi ence of reality (frequently through com· parin g our experiet)Ces with others in sim ilar contexts) : and 3) re<:onstitut ing these assumptions to make them more Ir.: lus;"'e arld integrative." What foll ows is an examination of the elfects of asking a groop 01 women in a sing le e lementary schoo l to write and share na rratives of critical inc Oje nts in their profess;ooal and personal ~ves arld to reflect upon tile lIIlderfying assumptions M1b~dded "";thin the ... incidoots through diaioogue arld writin g By roflocting crit~aly up;::<l tile assu ~tions wh" h guide their action s. these women can begin to rethink th e valkJity of their prem ises . By shoring these retiections, women are able to find thei' own voice arld beg in to emer<)'l as t:>oth informal arld formal leaders within thei r orgarlizations. Unimatefy, it is through cri tica l reflection on th eir gu idir>g assumpt ioos about themselves arld thcir ro les as leaders that transformative learning lakes plac<l Th e sharing of nurrat;"'es and critical reflection upon those narratives was stu diad in a se ries 01 staft development activities in Lol<ahi Elem':mtary Schoof, origirlatty bui lt in 1968 for I)(l(l, but now hous ing at>oult300 stt.lder1ts in grades kirxlergarten through Sixt h. wjjh a staH of 65 to 70 teachers woo &erve a predl)<'J'Jinanl ly mi'ta ry population, Because the sc!>;)of &ervCS a mobikl population, th ey experieoce a 25----60% annual st udant turnover rata. The curre<ll principal has been th ere for eight yea rs. Sixteen women in t>oth teaChing arld ad rnini strati_e roles from Lokahi met m a r"'\lu lar basis on Wednesday a fternoons and Saturday s lo r five months, from January through May These women , both teach ers arid admin istra tors. we re asked to kIontily and re<XlUllt cntical ioodents in their teaching or learning experi ences, Those ir>:Oidents were shared in small groups arld occasiona lly with the who le group, The women kept individuat journats in which they made ent ri es both at home arld in the group and throug h wh~h they engaged in conti nua l refle<:tion or> themse lves arld their place in Lokahi Eleme<"lta ry. They a lso kOpt a cot! e<:t;"'e journa l, a col at>orat;"'e document in which a l shared reflections about th e progress 01 th e group, about thomsclves and their or<)anization, Narrative and Oi. logue Encouragng educators to produoe an d share ""rratives 01 profess>anal pmct~ can be a powertul tool in the deveiopment 01 toaders in the school am of the OI"ganization as a whole. Me.irow arld Associates" assert that the role of diaiogue is crucia l to critical reflection because "it is through dialogue that we att;;mrt to understan()-to leam-what is valid in the assertOons mad~ by others am attempt to achieve coosensual _ai da ti or! lor our own assertions ." Thus, the t ormation and facilitation of dialogic comm uniti es is centrally in.olved in educat ioo for adu lts, D ialogue amoog schoof personnel a llows them to beg in to lind their own voices and to sha re their prolessklnaf COr>ee rn$. Usin g narrative or stories of practice as a springboard for thi s dialogue encou.-a<Jes schoof personnel to examiroe tile assumpt""'s up;::<l which they base their practice. Yot it is oot afways easy to beg in wnting arld shari ng th ese storios . Women often do nollrus1 01" va lu e themselves arld their abi,ty to contmu1e as members of tile groop. They often believe they have ""ttOng of va lu e to oNer to a coflaborative leade rship proc ess . At th e beg innin9 of th e cou rse, one teacher wrote: I fee l ve ry app rehens ive I rea lty can 'l wr ile my thoughts as I wou ld want to I a lso fee l emba rrassed about sharin g my writings be<:ause it wems too supe rti . cial compared to others. it's tiring at th is time of day to sit arld write ... to think about what f want to write Desp ite the apprehensions, these women soon foorld great rewards and a sense of connecti on through their writing arld dialogue. T ired a1 tlle erld of a school day , the process of ere· at ing and sha' in g narratives can be energ izing, rather than draining, Late r this same teache r wrote: Educational Considerations 3 Cooper: The Use of Narrative, Dialogue and Critical Reflection in the Dev Published by New Prairie Press, 2017 Brownie points to this [groo p[1 I feel light aOO carefree ! ThIS morning was a drag-waking up, semi-cold, stil l l ired _ comi ng to school was no fun eitherIdds, plans, aHel school facuHy meeting . . . oot now, this . . . it's fun . I foo good_ I like the cOOl rac!etie. I like what I'm learn ir>g. I like tile way in which my eyes and ~ rain have been opened like a venetian bl iOO. Given a ct\ar;ce to reflect uj)OI1 their pe rSOllal and protessk>nal li .cs pro.ed usefu l and insightl ul to th ese women in many ways_ One teacher wrote about beir>g burnt out and what a yoa. of professk>nallea.e had meant to her. She is rlO'o'l much more conscie ntious about takin g time tor herself away from schoo l in order to pre.ent further bu rnoot . Several others wrote aboultheir ooed to find too r own voices. to speak up in yarious situations. A first step here is the recognitio n that they have rema ined siloot when they had somethilg they rea!y wanted to say . After attend ing a state commission meeting on educa· ti<) nal perfo rmance standards. one teacher wrote: I otid n't speak 001. I didn'l ask questoos. I simply lett my destiny in the hands of lhese peopIe_ Why didn't I assert myself in this situatoo when I fell so suong~ about it? Why did I iu st sil there and make snide remarks? I'm so ct; ... ppointed with myself Given this recogni tio n, the ctass became a safe place for scOOof personnel to tmn in IIIkin9 their feelings arid concerns. The chance to write, think , arid dialogue with othe rs in the school gaye these ed~tors pesiti.e e'perieflces with fi rld ing their own vc<ce, speaking up arid l>eing hea(d . A member ol the teach ing staff wrote I've fouOO I need to speak up. too, arid oot mer,"~ solve th ings on paper. 6y bocoming comfor tab le with th is group, I' ve found I can speak aut about some of the things that bother me. Throu gh findir>g her own v()ice and the ab ility to speak oot about he; oonce rns. this teacher IJ.ecame an informal leader in the school . No looger silent. she was ~ble to step forward and become part ol the collective conversation tMt fOmini sts. wch as Astin arid Lelaoo,'" del  as leadership Nar<ative and dialogue not on ly ulklWed school personne l to fm their voices and be heard about issues of C<>rICe rn to them. but began an important pfOCilSS ol bu ilding trust between various mem~ers of the school . One woma n, for instance. coose to write aoout he

The Use of Narrative, Dialogue and Critical Reflection in the Development of Women as School Leaders