Stanley Cavell is a challenging contemporary philosopher whose influence has steadily been increasing - in philosophy, politics, literary and especially film studies, and most recently in education. His work covers a remarkable range, and education is its sustained theme. This extends through his readings of ordinary language philosophy, of Wittgenstein and scepticism, of Emerson and Thoreau, and it is apparent especially in his writings on film. Throughout this work there is a preoccupation with language, and this is focused especially on voice, autobiography and the nature of writing. In this symposium we consider especially on the ways in which these particular points of emphasis can cast light on questions of theory and evidence in educational research. We see these matters as directly related to his conception of the political and to his understanding of this in terms of ordinary language philosophy. The symposium brings together three researchers who have all worked on Cavell for at least a decade, while our discussant, Paul Smeyers, has a similarly sustained interest. The main research question that the symposium addresses is: How far can Cavell’s conception of the ordinary cast light on the politics and policy of education? Subsidiary questions are: How is his conception of the ordinary related to his appropriation of the ordinary language philosophy he inherits from J.L. Austin and Ludwig Wittgenstein? How is his conception of the ordinary evident in his inheritance of the ideas of Thoreau and Emerson? How does his examination of scepticism and the relation of knowing and acknowledging cast light on what is to count as evidence in education and how this is to be used? How does the Wittgensteinian suspicion of theory in his work expose problems regarding educational research, as well as evidence-based policy and practice? The objectives of the symposium are: • to increase awareness of the educational significance of Cavell’s work; • to expose problems in the idea and usage of evidence as these are currently promoted, and to seek an expand and yet more defensible understanding of evidence; • to question suggest ways out of the problems in educational research illustrated through revised approaches to teacher education and policy-making; • to contribute to a more coherent identity for educational research through the examination of writing forms. Cavell’s philosophical thought, we shall show, helps to expose the barriers that currently beset thinking about the relation between evidence and theory.

The method used is philosophical enquiry with careful attention to the reading of key texts.

Our symposium will: • generate a lively and well-informed interaction between the presenters and the discussant; • welcome interaction with the audience; • offer a range of provocative ideas relating to theory, evidence, and the place of ordinary language philosophy to the audience; • provide a restatement of the salience of philosophy and the foundation disciplines in educational research, but with a distinctive emphasis on particular kinds of enquiry and writing.