In this paper we report on the construction and use of narrative accounts developed to capture the experiences of participants engaged in educational leadership. Narratives, sometimes called vignettes or creative non fiction, permit life-like accounts which focus on experience (Clandinin and Connelly, 2000). Narratives permit participant’s stories and descriptions of experience to be honoured and given status (Conle, 2003). According to Hostetler (2005) narratives support the criteria for ‘good educational research’ as they contribute to people’s well-being. There is no place for ‘cause and effect’ in the narrative experience. Instead other criteria, such as apparency and verisimilitude ensure trustworthiness and permit transferability. Using narratives as a research strategy in educational leadership is one of the many forms qualitative research may take.

In keeping with the interpretivist paradigm of qualitative research, case studies are used to manage aspects of the research, and data are collected during semi-structured interviews. Semi-structured interviews permit participants to 'tell their own story' from their unique perspective while also providing a framework to address issues of importance. Field text, shaped by both the participant and the researcher during the interview process, is noted and a tape recorder used as a back up source to capture literal comments from the participants. To create narratives the interview data is processed to describe factual information provided by and about the participants in accurate context from the field texts. Writing narratives involves 'connoissuership' and much like Bildung, evolves rather than develops through established methods (Prange, 2004). Pseudonyms are allocated to all participants and locations to ensure anonymity. A copy of each narrative is forwarded to the relevant participant for approval of its use. A thematic analysis of the narratives in each case is then undertaken and this may be followed by a meta-analysis across all cases.

Using narratives to present field text or research data enables a ‘jumble’ of thoughts, impressions and partial expressions to become lucid data for analysis. Well written narrative accounts bring such data ‘to life’ so that a reader may feel they are ‘actually there’ during the data collection. They provide a framework and context for making meaning of life situations and are aligned with qualitatively-oriented educational research.