The literacies-as-events in the day of a life of an octogenarian: literacies of thriving as habits of a lifetime and (im)materially constituted

Abstract

Much is known about the literacies of early life, adolescence and some aspects of adulthood such as workplace literacies, but there has been a dearth of attention to the literacies of late life. The invisibility of these literacies has the potential to skew how curricula, pedagogy and policy developers understand and plan for literacies that can sustain people across the life course. It also can play into deficit discourses of elders, such as those prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic, that have led to a parallel pandemic of ageism. To reverse this invisibility, this study aimed to bring to light the everyday literacies of thriving elders and the people, places and things involved therein. Through a sociomaterial orientation to literacies and adoption of a modified Day-in-the-Life methodology, this paper reports on the everyday literacies of ‘Gina’, an octogenarian woman who resided in an assisted living residence in the United States and self-identified as thriving. The study identified six key literacies-as-events in Gina's day that engaged a plethora of (im)material constituents such as memories, art materials and novels and created opportunities for the (re)invention of time and space. Lessons from Gina's day suggest what might be possible in/through literacies at all ages.