UNDERSTANDING CULTURE SOCIETY AND POLITICS WEEK 2

Most Essential Learning Competency:

Analyze the concept, aspects and changes in/of culture and society

What I need to know:

Culture and Society are interelated concepts .The circumstances that happen within a particular society alters
the flow of how culture is manifested and practiced while the culture as it is practiced also affects the social
consciousness, means and ways of living. It is a never ending developmental process. However culture
defines the progression and regression of a society. Culture refers to the beliefs, behaviors, objects, and
other characteristics common to the members of a particular group or society. A society on the other hand
refers to the aggregate of people living together in a more or less ordered community. Through culture, people
and groups define themselves, conform to society's shared values, and contribute to society.

Learning objectives:
Appreciate the nature of culture and society from the perspectives of anthropology and sociology
Value cultural heritage and express pride of place without being ethnocentric

Pre -Test: Write the letter of the correct answer in your answer sheet.

_____1. The aggregate of people living together in a more or less ordered community
A. Culture B.Politics C. Society D. Townspeople

_____2. The beliefs, behaviors, objects, and other characteristics common to the members of a particular
group or society.
A. Culture B.Politics C. Society D. Townspeople

_____3. A kind of culture generally pursued by the working and middle classes
A. high B. ideal C.popluar D. real

_____4.Refers to the values and norms that a society professes to believe.

A. high B. ideal C.popluar D. real

_____5. Known as “conventions” or “customs,” standards of behavior that are socially approved
A. folkways B. mores C. norms D.subculture

_____6. Smaller cultures within a larger culture

A. folkways B. mores C. norms D.subculture

_____7. A form of society based on ownership of land.

A. Agricultural B. Feudal C.Horticultural D.Industrial

_____8. A form of society based on using machines to produce goods.

A. Agricultural B. Feudal C.Horticultural D.Industrial

_____9. An emerging form of society based on information, knowledge, and the selling of services.
A. Horticultural B.Hunting-gathering C. Pastoral D. Post- Industrial

_____10. A societ that relies on cultivating fruits, vegetables, and plants

A. Horticultural B.Hunting-gathering C. Pastoral D. Post- Industrial
Enrichment 1 Culture and Society from a Sociological Perspective
Culture has five basic characteristics: It is learned, shared, based on symbols, integrated, and dynamic.
All cultures share these basic features. Culture is learned. It is not biological; we do not inherit it. Much of
learning culture is unconscious. We learn culture from families, peers, institutions, and media. The way
humans fulfills biological needs varies cross-culturally. Culture is shared because we share culture with
other members of our group, we are able to act in socially appropriate ways as well as predict how others will
act. Despite the shared nature of culture, that doesn’t mean that culture is the same. Culture is based
on symbols (something that stands for something else). Symbols vary cross-culturally and are arbitrary.
They only have meaning when people in a culture agree on their use. Language, money and art are all
symbols. Culture is integrated. All aspects of a culture are related to one another and to truly understand a
culture, one must learn about all of its parts, not only a few. Culture is dynamic(cultures interact and
change). Cultures in contact with other cultures, exchange ideas and symbols. All cultures change, otherwise,
they would have problems adapting to changing environments. Popularly speaking, being cultured means
being well‐educated, knowledgeable of the arts, stylish, and well‐mannered. High culture—generally
pursued by the upper class—refers to classical music, theater, fine arts, and other sophisticated pursuits.
Members of the upper class can pursue high art because they have cultural capital, which means the
professional credentials, education, knowledge, and verbal and social skills necessary to attain the “property,
power, and prestige” to “get ahead” socially. Low culture, or popular culture—generally pursued by the
working and middle classes—refers to sports, movies, television sitcoms and soaps, and rock music. It is
important to distinguish real culture (refers to the values and norms that a society actually follow) from ideal
culture (refers to the values and norms that a society professes to believe). Norms are the agreed‐upon
expectations and rules by which a culture guides the behavior of its members in any given situation. Saying po
and opo when addressing the elderly is an example of a norm. Sociologists speak of at least four types of
norms: folkways, mores, taboos, and laws. Folkways, are known as “conventions” or “customs,” standards
of behavior that are socially approved but not morally significant. Mores, on the otherhad, are norms of
morality. Breaking mores, will most likely offend most people of a culture. Certain behaviors are
considered taboo, meaning a culture absolutely forbids them. Finally, laws are a formal body of rules enacted
by the state and backed by the power of the state. Culture also exists at several levels. Smaller cultures within
a larger culture as subcultures. Some of the diversity we see across subcultures is based on class(social
category based on economic position in society), race (socially constructed meanings assigned to the
perceived differences between people based on physical traits), ethnicity( identity based on distinct
group’s cultural features ), age, and gender(cultural meanings assigned to the biological differences
between the sexes).

Guided Assessment: True or False

_______1. Mores are norms of morality.
_______2. Taboos are written Laws
_______3. Culture being dynamic means that it never changes.
_______4. Norms are agreed upon expectations and rules by which a culture guides the behavior of its
members in any given situation
_______5. Being cultured, from the popular perspective, means being well‐educated, knowledgeable of the
arts, stylish, and well‐mannered

Processing Question: Optional activities for additional points. 30points each

1. What is your opinion about the popuplar belief on high and low societies? If you will classify their culture,
would it be real or ideal. Explain your answer in in notm more than 5 coherent sentences.

Enrichment 2 - Culture and Society from an Anthropological Perspective

Expert professionals, sociologists and anthropologists have classified 6 basic types of societies, each defined
by their technology. Humans have established many types of societies throughout history these are:
A. Hunting and gathering societies: primarily survived by hunting animals, fishing, and gathering plants.
The vast majority of these societies existed in the past, with only a few (perhaps a million people total) living
today on the verge of extinction.
B. Pastoral societies: which first emerged 12,000 years ago, pasture animals for food and transportation.
Pastoral societies still exist today, primarily in the desert lands of North Africa where horticulture and
manufacturing are not possible.
C. Horticultural societies rely on cultivating fruits, vegetables, and plants. These societies first appeared in
different parts of the planet about the same time as pastoral societies.
D. Agricultural societies use technological advances to cultivate crops (especially grains like wheat, rice,
corn, and barley) over a large area. Sociologists use the phrase Agricultural Revolution to refer to the
technological changes that occurred as long as 8,500 years ago that led to cultivating crops and raising farm
animals. Increases in food supplies then led to larger populations than in earlier communities,
E. Feudalism(9th -15th century) was a form of society based on ownership of land. Unlike today's
farmers, vassals under feudalism were bound to cultivating their lord's land. In exchange for military protection,
the lords exploited the peasants into providing food, crops, crafts, homage, and other services to the owner of
the land.
F. Industrial societies are based on using machines (particularly fuel‐driven ones) to produce goods.
Sociologists refer to the period during the 18th century when the production of goods in mechanized factories
began as the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution appeared first in Britain, and then quickly
spread to the rest of the world.
G. Sociologists note that with the advent of the computer microchip, the world is witnessing a technological
revolution. This revolution is creating a postindustrial society based on information, knowledge, and the
selling of services. That is, rather than being driven by the factory production of goods, society is being
shaped by the human mind, aided by computer technology. Although factories will always exist, the key to
wealth and power seems to lie in the ability to generate, store, manipulate, and sell information.

Independent Activtiy: Write an essay about the technological revolution leading to the rise of post indusrital
societies. 100 points
What is your take on the emergence of Post Industrial revolution? Do you consider it as progress or a
devolution of the concept of survival? Explain your answer in in not more than 500 words.

Reflection and evaluation:

Answer these questions to evaluate what you learned in this lesson.
What part of the lesson do you find most interesting and easy to understand?
What concpets do you find difficult to grasp and difficult to understand?

Referrences:
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/sociology/culture-and-societies/culture-and-society-defined
https://nideffer.net/classes/GCT_RPI_S14/readings/Chap8CharacteristicsofCulture.htm
https://pressbooks.howardcc.edu/soci101/chapter/3-2-the-elements-of-culture/

*note.
 Kindly answer all activities except ones specified as opitonal.
 NO ANSWER KEY was provided in this lesson to encourage the learner to read and comprehend the
concepts at their own pace.
 If you find some concepts difficult you are encourage to discuss your concerns and clarifications with your
teacher facilitator.
 Do not write anything on this booklet. Kindly write your answers on the medium specified by your teacher
facilitator. .