Reflections on Peer Researching the School Based Experiences of Young People with Lived and Living Experiences (PWLLE) of Youth Homelessness Using Participatory Action Research

Abstract

This participatory research investigates the school-based experiences of homeless youth, addressing the question: how might schools intervene in homelessness? Firstly, theories of representation, structure, and agency are presented alongside youths' narratives of stigmatisation, punishment, substance use, exclusion, and more, within the education system. This MA thesis highlights how sociological theories might help educators, youth and others move beyond harmful perceptions of homelessness where youth are misunderstood as perpetrators of deviance rather than victims of unjust structures. Researchers increasingly desire collaboration with people with lived/living experience (PWLLE) of studied topics, yet publications by PWLLE on research practices are few. The second main question this work addresses is: what is it like to do participatory research as a scholar with lived experience (SWLE) of youth homelessness? This thesis argues that neoliberal structures that contribute to homeless students' punishment and neglect in schools are the same that create research as competitive, marketized spaces sometimes at odds with ethical engagement.iii Acknowledgements Bailey, Blanca, Jacob and Sabrina, you taught me so much more than any research question could ever answer. Working with the Youth Action Team was the highlight of this work for me, and I will forever reflect on the lessons we learned together.To every youth I met on this journey, thank you for trusting me with your knowledges. I promise to honour your expertise in my future work, always.Special thanks to Chicken, I don't pass a railway line without seeing your smiling face. You are so missed by so many youth and adults in Ottawa City. Danny Parlow, you should have graduated from Carleton University around the same time as me.You are gone but never ever forgotten, my partner in criminalization. Thank you for getting me off the pipe and back into the books.Thank you to all my dear friends, especially Jenny, Cora and Stu, as well as to my supervisor Dr.

Talking about Homelessness and School: Recommendations from Canadian Young People Who Have Experienced Homelessness

“…Some of the researchers have lived experience of homelessness, and considerable effort was made to consult with young people who had lived experience in the design of the study and the methods used to reach out to participants. This helped mitigate some of the differences in social location between the relatively privileged positions of researchers and participants, although, as has been written about elsewhere, this type of research has both advantages and disadvantages [38,39]. These efforts included recruiting collaborators and advisors from within universities and community agencies who did not regularly participate in the creation and implementation of academic research projects.…”