NAME :_________________________ STRAND :_______

Grade 11 - ____________________________

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Topic and Activities Page Number

 Introduction 2

 Lesson proper 3

 Activity # 1 4

OBJECTIVES
At the end of the module, the learner will be able to:
 define society and culture;
 explain types of society from the perspectives of sociologist;
 identify the aspects and elements of culture.

LESSONS AND COVERAGE

Module: 2

Topic: Defining culture and society from the perspectives of anthropology and
sociology
Dominican Core Values: Excellence
Materials: laptop and module
References: Understanding Culture, Society and Politics by Myla M. Arcinas, PhD
pp. 21-35

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INTRODUCTION
Society – describes a group of people who share a common territory and a culture.
By territory sociologist refer to a definable region as small as a neighborhood (e.g. barangay),
a city (e.g. Iloilo City), a country (e.g. Philippines), to as large as the global regional context
(e.g. Asia).
Culture – refers to a complex whole which encompasses beliefs, practices, values, attitudes,
laws, norms, artifacts, symbols, knowledge, and everything that a person learns and share as a
member of society.

To clarify a society represents social structures of the organization of the people who share
those beliefs and practice while culture represents the beliefs, practices and artifacts of a group.

Types of society
1. Hunting and gathering societies – these are the earliest form of society, they are
small and generally with less than 50 members and nomadic. The members survive
primarily by hunting, trapping, fishing, and gathering edible plants. The family
determines the distribution of food and how to socialize children. Members are
dependent upon each other and there is equal division of labor based on sex wherein
men are responsible for hunting and women are gatherers.
2. Pastoral societies – they rely on products obtained through the domestication and
breeding of animals for transportation and food. They are move to another land area
when the land in which animals graze is no longer usable. They also allow job for
specialization, since not everyone is needed to gather or hunt for food.
3. Horticultural societies – these societies rely on the cultivation of fruits, vegetables,
and plants in order to survive. They often forced to relocate when the resources of the
land are depleted or when water supplies decrease.
4. Agricultural societies – they rely on the use of technology in order to cultivate crops
in large areas, including wheat, rice and corn. People do not have to move as long as
productivity increases and there is plenty of food. This time, towns form, and then cities
emerged, ob specialization increases, and the economy becomes more complex.
5. Industrial societies – they uses advanced sources of energy to run large machinery
which led to industrialization. Innovations in transportation led people to travel, work in
factories and live in cities. Occupational specialization became even more pronounced,
and a person’s vocation became more familiar than his or her family ties, as was
common in non-industrial societies.
6. Post-industrial societies – the economy is based on services and technology, not
production. The economy is dependent on tangible goods, people must pursue greater
education, and communications technology allows work to be performed from a variety
of locations.

Aspects of culture

Material culture – cultural components that are visible and tangible include all material
objects with physical representation, created, produced and utilized by men such as tools,
furniture, buildings, bridges, gadgets, etc.
Non-material culture – are components of culture that are non-tangible or without physical
representation and categorized into cognitive and normative non-material culture. Cognitive
culture include the ideas, concepts, philosophies, designs, etc. that are product of mental or
intellectual functioning and reasoning of human mind while normative culture includes all
expectations, standards and rules for human behavior.

Elements of culture

Beliefs – are conceptions or ideas of people have about what is true in the environment
around them like what is life, how to value it, and how one’s value of life relates with his or her
interaction with others and the world. These maybe based on common sense, folk wisdom,
religion, science or a combination of all of these.

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Values – describe what is appropriate or inappropriate (good or bad; desirable or undesirable;
worthy or unworthy) in a given society.

People – live in a culture wherein symbols are used to understand each other. Symbols can be
verbal words or non verbal (acts, gestures, signs and objects) that communicate meaning that
people recognized and shared.

Language – is a shared set of spoken and written symbols. They are basic to communication
and transmission of culture. It is known as the storehouse of culture.
Technology – refers to the application of knowledge and equipment to ease the task of living
and maintaining the environment. It includes all artifacts, methods and devices created and
used by people.

Norms – are specific rules/standards to guide for appropriate behavior.

Characteristics of culture
1. Dynamic, Flexible and Adaptive – culture is adaptive and dynamic, once we
recognize problems, culture can adapt again, in a more positive way to find solutions.
2. Shared and may be Challenged – as we share culture with others, we are able to act
in appropriate ways as well as predict how others will act. It may be challenged by other
cultures and social forces like modernization, industrialization and globalization.
3. Learned through socialization and enculturation – we learn, absorb, and acquire
culture from families, peers, institutions and the media. The process of learning culture
in enculturation.
4. Patterned social interactions – it sets the pattern in terms of what is appropriate or
inappropriate in a given setting.
5. Integrated – this is known as holism, or the various parts of culture being
interconnected or interlinked. All aspects of culture are related to one another and to
truly understand a culture, one must learn about all of its parts, not only a few.
6. Transmitted through socialization and enculturation – in socialization or
enculturation we are able to share our culture with new members of society or the
younger generations to equip them with the culturally acceptable ways of surviving,
competing and making meaningful interactions with society.
7. Requires language and other forms of communication – learning and
transmitting culture, we need symbols and language to communicate with others in
society. Language, money, art are all symbols and they only have meaning when people
in a culture agree on their use.

Ethnocentrism – a term coined by William Sumner, is the tendency to see and evaluate other
cultures in terms of one’s own race, nation, or culture. Societies have the tendency to display or
manifest certain amount of ethnocentrism, cultural sensitivity especially if one is a visitor.
Non-sensitivity to cultural practices of other groups may be mis-interpreted and may lead to
conflict with others or maybe seen by others as a rude behavior especially when articulated or
expressed in front of others.

Xenocentrism – a term coined by John D. Fullmer, in this globalized society, one’s exposure to
cultural practices of others make one to give preference to the ideas, lifestyle and products of
other cultures. People usually experience xenocentrism came from a country with lower
economic position as compared to the one preferred. This maybe triggered by comparison
wherein the person sees one’s person position as inferior and would like to improve one’s statue
or experience a better condition compared to his/her current position.

Cultural relativism – a term is coined by Franz Boas, is the principle that an individual
human’s beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual’s own
culture. It highlights the perspective that no culture is superior to any other culture when
comparing systems of morality, law, politics, etc.

NOTE: PLEASE RETURN ONLY THE ANSWER SHEET.

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NAME : ____________________________________ Grade 11 - ________
SUBJECT : Understanding Culture, Society and Politics (UCSP) 11

MODULE 2 - ANSWER SHEET

GUIDE QUESTION:

1. What learnings have you gained in understanding culture and society

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“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard,”

as quoted by Tim Notke

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