Our  purpose  in  this  paper  is  to  critically  explore  the  ways  in  which  the  dominant  discourse  of  popular  neuroscience  is  fundamentally  changing  our  understanding  of  concepts  such  as  learning, self, identity  and  ultimately  how  we  understand  and  live  our  lives.  Agreeing with Rose, the  dissemination  of  biological  and  neuroscientific  language  “make(s)  up  citizens in  new  ways” .  This  paper  presents  a  study  of  neuroscience  at  the  level  of  culture  as  through  various  popular  national  and international  media  and  academic  research  we  are  urged  as  individuals  without  medical  or  scientific  training  to  take  up  the  languages  of  neuroscience  and  use  them  as  a  way  of  talking  about  ourselves.  

We  explore  the  dynamic  and  mutually  constitutive  relationships  between  how  we  talk  about  our  brains, cultural  practices  and  our  understanding  of  personal  identity.  We  view  the  brain  as  a  discursive  space  where  the  language  of  neuroscience  attempts  to  coordinate  personal, social  and  biological  dimensions  of  life  and  translate  them  into  a  common  language  for  living.  This line of analysis then  also   involves elaboration  of   how  neuroscientists  have  appropriated  educational and even  sociocultural discourses.  In this regard we will show how  neuroscience  positions literacy  and  learning,  challenging  how  these  messages and concepts from neuroscience are  shaping  literacy and  learning  in  practice  in  the  21^st  century.

            As  socioculturalists  we  understand culture as emergent, contingent, indeterminate, sedimented, performed and dynamic, not as something which can be pinned down and contained, and assumed to be stable across context, activities and people. A key means through which individuals organise culture is through the ‘stories of the self’ that they develop, express or enact. We think of culture as the very process of negotiating a world and therefore our attention has to be directed to people’s intentions as they express and enact them, that is as they emerge  in  the  discourses and scripts that inform the person’s notions of a desired self.

We are very aware of the allure of neuroscience, not just for educators and different professional groups, but for members of the public in general. The designation of the 1990s as the ‘decade of the brain’ greatly expanded research opportunities and funding streams in neuroscience, with media attention spiralling as a consequence.  Like all theoretical perspectives, neuroscientific  theorising has evolved  its own concepts, language and vocabulary which challenge dominant and powerful ways of thinking about and facilitating human flourishing. The  sudden  and  unrelenting  tide  of  neuroscience  and  brain  imaging  is  transforming  our  secular  soul  into  a  place  for  speculating  about  who  we  are  in  a  “molecularization”  of  life  itself (Rose, 2007) . 

We  ask

1. What  is  the  impact  of  neuroscientific  and  sociocultural  language  on  our  understanding  of  learning?
2. How  can  we  interpret  the  languages  of  neuroscience  and  sociocultural  theory  as  21^st  century  literacies  for  understanding  selfhood, identity  and  world?
3. Can  the  potential  hybridity  across  sociocultural  and  neuroscientific  discourses  be  harnessed  to  enhance  learning  opportunities?

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