Feeling the lived experiences of aging, homelessness, and supportive housing: Community-based storytelling as critical pedagogy

Abstract

We explore community-based storytelling as an affective pedagogical strategy for university learners across disciplines to develop knowledge concerning aging, experiences of homelessness, and supportive housing as social justice issues. As part of their coursework, Master of Architecture (MArch) and Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) students at the University of Calgary, contributed to the Aging in the Right Place (AIRP) Partnership. AIRP is a SSHRC-CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) funded five-year cross-Canada interdisciplinary inquiry investigating promising practices in supportive housing service and design for older adults with experiences of homelessness. The MArch students created cellphilms (short films shot on smartphones) in-situ, highlighting supportive housing design considerations from both architectural and experiential perspectives. The BSW students organized pop-up art-shows that showcased AIRP participants’ photovoice stories (photography and narratives reflecting participants’ expertise concerning aging, homelessness, and supportive housing) aimed at decreasing homelessness-related stigma. Both learning processes are rooted in critical pedagogy, which centres processes of learning, action, and reflection towards the goal of social transformation.

These assignments highlight community-based storytelling as experiential learning that fosters intra-personal meaning-making, relationship-building, and action-oriented critical reflection among both graduate and undergraduate cohorts. We will share our learning processes, screen cellphilm examples, provide pop-up art show learnings, and offer pedagogical reflections from both instructor and student perspectives. Ultimately, we demonstrate how community-based storytelling develops complex cross-disciplinary understandings of aging, homelessness, supportive housing, and social justice among both learning cohorts and community audiences.