Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Regional Office IX, Zamboanga Peninsula

12 Zest for Progress

Z P
Community Engagement, Solidarity &
eal of artnership

Citizenship
First Quarter- Module 3:
Functions of Communities in Terms of Structure,
Dynamics, and Processes

Name of Learner: ___________________________

Grade & Section: ___________________________
Name of School: ___________________________
 Target
Bartle (2010) pointed out that “a community is a super-organic organism or
system” made up of the thoughts, outlook, and conduct of individual human beings full
of divisions and conflicts brought about by differences in religion, ethnicity, gender,
access to resources, class, educational level, income level, ownership of properties,
language, personality, opportunities, and lot more. This reality indicates that to work
in a community or to undertake community interventions is a challenging task. One
must get to know first and foremost the community system. How does the community
work? What are the structures and the different dimensions of community? One must
observe how the community acts and reacts that are external and internal to its system.
Development work requires understanding community dynamics and processes.

This module analyzes the functions of communities in terms of structure,

dynamics, and processes.

After going through this module, you are expected to:

Ø Recognize the functions of communities in terms of structure, dynamics, and
processes.

Review
Identification

Write your answer on your answer sheet. Select the correct answer from the table below:

The Social Science Perspective The Sectoral Perspective

The Community-Based The Civil Society Perspective
Perspective
The Ecological Perspective Community Development
Virtual Perspective Systems Perspective
Individual Perspective Social Perspective

1. Defined as a wide array of nongovernmental organizations and volunteer groups that are
for solutions to social issues that continue to worsen the condition of the disadvantaged
sectors of society, especially the poor.
2. These sectors composed of groups of individuals embodying distinct roles and interests
within the community system.
 3. A community is a congregation of species that occur together in time and space and have
high probability for interaction.
4. This perspective requires vigilance in assessing community structures and processes
before any community interventions.
5. The people can be unified by geography, shared interests, values, experiences, or
traditions.

6. The key to this perspective is that to address a community’s complex reality successfully
requires proper integration, collaboration, and constant coordination of resources from all
its parts.

7. This perspective describes the social and political networks that connect individuals,
organizations, and its leaders.

8. Individuals rely heavily on computer-mediated communication.

9. Individuals who are living in a community have their unique sense of membership.

Lesson Functions of Communities in Terms of

1 Structure, Dynamics, and Processes

Discover
The Elements of a Community:
Nature and Power Structure

The dynamics of a community are determined by its nature and structure and how it
reacts with external or internal forces. It is thus important to recognize the characteristics and
features of a community to understand why it acts and reacts in a certain way.

The Nature of a Community

Nature Description
A community The concept of a community is not only a “construct”
is a (model); it is a sociological construct or a set of interactions
sociological or human behaviors that have meaning and expectations
construct between its members. There is not just action, but actions
based on shared expectations, values, beliefs, and
meanings between individuals.
In understanding how a community operates and how it
changes, it is necessary to learn a little bit about sociology,
the science. The mobilizer is an applied scientist, a social
scientist. While a pure scientist is interested in taking that
knowledge and getting useful results.
A community When a community is a little village separated by a few
has fuzzy kilometers from other villages in a rural area, its
boundaries. boundaries appear at first to be very simple. The human
 interaction present may be seen as consisting only of
relations among the residents living inside that village.
If the residents interact with people outside the village, they
may, for example, marry persons from other places and
move or bring a spouse in to live with them. At any given
time, those village residents may have sisters, brothers,
cousins, parents, and relatives living elsewhere. The
boundary of the community is no longer that precise.
A community There may be communities within larger communities,
can exist including districts, regions, ethnic groups, nations, and
within a larger other boundaries. There may be marriages and other
community. interactions that link the villages of a nation together.
A community When technology is not based on local horticulture, the
may move. community residents may be physically mobile. They may
be nomadic herders walking long distances with their cattle.
They may be mobile fishing groups who move from time to
time to where the fish are available. They may be hunters
who move to follow the game.
Source: Phil Bartle, 2010

A community can be considered like an organism because it can function even people
come and go. It transcends the individual persons that make it up. A living organism also
behaves similarly as it transcends its atoms.

The Structure of a Community

In a community, change agents put premium in understanding power structure.
Community power structure is about the distribution of power at the local community
level (Sociology Guide). Power in a community is the capacity to influence the decision-
making and distribution processes, to bring about change and get things done. The idea
of power includes determining the structures that have impact on local communities and
also the linkages that form collaborative works.
For community social change to happen, it is necessary to understand the power
actors. As discussed below, power actors have power mainly because of their influence.
The forms of power present, however, vary from one community to the other. Community
organizers and development workers pay close attention to power actors and the key
people in the community power structure because of their significant roles in social
change. Their behavior or reaction can break or make community development
interventions.

Bases of Local Description

Community Power
Connections The capacity to create linkages and develop helpful
relationships with powerful individuals, family, and
organizations.
Power in Number The base, back-up, and support of the people in the
community.
Rewards The ability to provide awards, promotion, money, and gifts
that are useful to meet individual or organizational goals.
Personal The capacity to foster respect and loyalty based on charm,
Traits/Expertise talents, and skills.
Legitimate Power The leadership title or higher organizational or institutional
position.
Information The ability to keep or share information
Coercion Influence through manipulation and coercion.
Source: USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (May 2005)

The Dimensions of a Community

A community is a complex system with different dimensions. These dimensions

may be present in all communities, but they may vary in size, degree, and complexity.
This characteristic of a community may be attributed to the combination of the
communities’ human resource, natural resource, culture, structure, and other factors.
Bartle (2010) identified six community dimensions: technological, economic, political,
institutional, aesthetic-value, and belief-conceptual. These are briefly described in the
following table:

Dimensions Description
Technological It is the community capital- its tools, skills, and ways of dealing
with the physical environment. It is the interface between
humanity and nature. This dimension is not comprised of the
physical tools themselves but of the learned ideas and behavior
that allow humans to invent, use, and teach others about these
tools. Technology is as much a cultural dimension as beliefs and
patterns of interaction are. It is symbolic.
Economic It is the community’s various ways and means of production and
allocation of scarce and useful goods and services through
barter, market trade, state allocations, and others. This
dimension is not about physical items like cash but about the
ideas and behavior that give value to cash (and other items).
Political The various ways and means of allocating power, influence, and
decision-making. It is not the same as ideology, which belongs to
the values dimension. It includes, but is not limited to, types of
governments and management systems. It also includes how
people in small bands or informal groups make decisions when
they do not have a recognized leader.
Institutional These are the ways people act, react, and interact with each
other, as well as the ways they expect each other to act and
interact. It includes institutions like marriage or friendship; roles
like a mother or a police officer; status or class; and other
patterns of human behavior. This dimension looks at patterns of
relationships that are sometimes identified as roles and status,
and the formation of groups and institutions that derive from
those patterns.
Aesthetic- This refers to the structure of ideas- sometimes paradoxical,
Values inconsistent, or contradictory-that people have about what is
good and bad, beautiful and ugly, and right and wrong. This is
what they use to explain or justify their actions. The three axes
are not acquired through our genes but through our
socialization. That implies that they can be relearned, that we
could change our judgments. Values, however, are incredibly
difficult to change in a community. They do change as
community standards evolve, but that change cannot be rushed
or guided through outside influence or conscious manipulation.
Shared community standards are important in community and
 personal identity.
Beliefs- This is another structure of ideas, also sometimes contradictory,
Conceptual that people have about the nature of the universe, the world
around them, their role on it, and the nature of time, matter,
and behavior. This dimension is sometimes thought to be the
religion of the people. It is however a wider category, and it
includes atheistic beliefs, such as how man created God in his
own image. Also, it includes shared beliefs in how this universe
came to be, how it operates, and what reality is. It is religion and
more. It is necessary to study and be aware of what the
prevailing beliefs are in the community. For you to be an
effective catalyst of social change, your actions must not offend
those prevailing beliefs; they must be consistent with, or at least
appropriate to, existing beliefs and concepts of how the universe
works.

Understanding the different dimensions of a community is a prerequisite to the process

of community mapping and analysis. It is only when you have a full grasp of the
economic, political, social, cultural, ecological, physical dimensions of the community
that you may be able to build the community puzzle. There is a need to detect the key or
combinations of keys to put together the different parts of the puzzle successfully in
order to see the whole picture of the social issues affecting the community. It is thus
important to develop not just the skill of assessing or analyzing observable data, but also
the skill of sensing or intuiting because there are things that the people do not show or
say. That is the value of the so-called paglubogor community immersion.

The Four Approaches in Applying the term Community

Groups Approaches of each group in applying the term
community
First Group They are concerned about the social and spatial
(Sociologists and formation of social organizations into small groups,
Geographers) such as neighborhoods, small towns, or other spatially
bounded localities.
Second Group Applies the term to ideas of belonging and difference
(Those Working in around issues such as identity.
Cultural Studies
and Anthropology)
Third Group Considers community as a form of political mobilization
(Those Working in inspired by radical democracy that prompts
the Social communities of action to oppose social injustice.
Movement)
Fourth Group Consider the development of a community based on the
(Those Concerned rise of a global society that draws on processes, such as
about the transnational mobility and the development of diaspora,
Influence of and technological development, such as global
Globalization) communications and the Internet, to explain this.

The identification of the four approaches indicates that perspectives on

communities evolve depending on the realities and requirements of the environment. In
the earlier points of view, communities are seen, traditionally, as spatially bounded and
attached to the powers of locality or place (Delanty 2003).
 Analyze

“Masid-Suri”

Instructions:

Masid-to observe

1. Watch a short film or any movies about community life at your choice.
2. Watch and observe the dynamics at play.
3. Take notes of your observations in your answer sheet.
4. If you cannot watch a short film or movie, you can relate into your own community.

Suri – to analyze
1. Write an essay on the community shown in the short film/movie or your community.
2. Use the following guide questions:
2.1. What is the composition of the community?
2.2. What are the characteristics of the community?
2.3. What are the dynamics/structure`/processes in the community?
3. Your essay will be evaluated based on the following:

Category 4 3 2 1
Stays on the Stays on the Stays on the Stays on the It was hard to
topic topic all topic most (99- topic some tell what the
(100%) of the 90%) of the (89-75%) of topic was.
time. time. the time.
Accuracy of All supporting Almost all Most No facts are
Facts facts are supporting supporting reported, or
(Content) reported facts are facts are most are
accurately. reported reported inaccurately
accurately. accurately. reported.
Sequencing of Information is Most Some There is no
Information organized in a information is information is clear plan for
clear, logical organized in a logically the
way. It is easy clear, logical sequenced. An organization of
to anticipate way. item of information.
the type of information
material that seems out of
might be next. place.

Enrichment Activity

Instructions:

1. Identify a community that is familiar to you.

2. Recall significant events or ordinary happenings that continue to exist in the
community.
3. Identify and describe these occurrences, put a name per occurrence, and determine if
each occurrence is considered as a community dimension. Community dimensions are
actually different parts of a community. However, according to Phil Bartle, we apply the
term “dimension” because what we are referring to are “analytical categories” and not
“observable parts” such as parts of a body.
4. Draw a diamond and write in each angle the dimensions that you have identified in
the activity.
5. Write your output in your notebook or answer sheet.

Reflection Question:
What did you learn from the activity? What were your criteria in determining
community dimensions?

RUBRIC

CRITERIA DETAILS POINTS /

PERCENTAGE

Clarity of How relevant are the 40%

Content content/s.

Communication How viable are the skills / 40%

Styles styles or usage of grammar.

Value of the How much impact can it be to 20%

Activity the reader/s.

TOTAL 100%

NOTE : This RUBRIC may apply all activities in this module.

Activity
Activity 1
“Piling Dimensiyon ng Komunidad”

Instructions:

1. Choose one community dimension.

2. Go to a poor community and observe the community dimension that you chose in
action.
3. Describe the community focusing on the dimension that you chose.
4. Make a slogan out of your description.
5. Your slogan will be evaluated based on the following:

CRITERIA DETAILS POINTS /

PERCENTAGE

Quality Remarkably constructed. Relevant and very 40%

attractive.

Inventiveness Remarkably inventive and creative. A lot of 40%

thinking and reflection were used to make the
presentation.

Innovativeness Remarkably innovative and original. 20%

TOTAL 100%

Activity 2

After accomplishing the activity, answer the following questions using your answer
sheet.

1. What slogan did you make?

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2. What is the meaning of your slogan? How did you come up with it?
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3. What were your realizations about the community while doing the activity?
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 4. What did you learn from the activity?
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5. Explain this statement: “The three axes are not acquired through our genes but
through our socialization.”
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Remember
The following are the nature of community:
Ø A community is a sociological construct
Ø A community has fuzzy boundaries.
Ø A community can exist within a larger community.
Ø A community may move.

The following are the bases of local community power:

• Connections
• Power in Number
• Rewards
• Personal Traits/expertise
• Legitimate Power
• Information
• Coercion

Bartle (2010) identified six community dimensions:

• Technological
• Economic
• Political
• Institutional
• aesthetic-value
• belief-conceptual
 Region IX: Zamboanga Peninsula Hymn – Our Eden Land

Here the trees and flowers bloom Gallant men And Ladies fair
Here the breezes gently Blow, Linger with love and care
Here the birds sing Merrily, Golden beams of sunrise and sunset
The liberty forever Stays, Are visions you’ll never forget
Oh! That’s Region IX
Hardworking people Abound,
Here the Badjaos roam the seas
Every valleys and Dale
Here the Samals live in peace
Zamboangueños, Tagalogs, Bicolanos,
Here the Tausogs thrive so free
Cebuanos, Ilocanos, Subanons, Boholanos,
With the Yakans in unity
Ilongos,
All of them are proud and true
Region IX our Eden Land
Region IX
Our..
Eden...
Land...

The Footprints Prayer Trees by Joyce Kilmer

One night I had a dream. I dreamed I think that I shall never see
that I was walking along the beach A poem lovely as a tree.
with the LORD.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
In the beach, there were two (2) sets Against the earth’s sweet flowing
of footprints – one belong to me and breast;
the other to the LORD.
A tree that looks at God all day,
Then, later, after a long walk, I And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
noticed only one set of footprints.
A tree that may in Summer wear
“And I ask the LORD. Why? Why?
A nest of robins in her hair;
Why did you leave me when I am sad
and helpless?”
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
And the LORD replied “My son, My Who intimately lives with rain.
son, I have never left you. There was
only one (1) set of footprints in the Poems are made by fools like me,
sand, because it was then that I But only God can make a tree.
CARRIED YOU!