Unit 1: Concepts and Perspectives of Community

Lesson 1.2

The Community in Various Perspectives

Contents
Introduction 1
Learning Objectives 2
Let’s Connect 2
Discover 4
Various Concepts of a Community 4
Community as a Social Construct 5
Community within Communities 5
Community as a Cultural Concept 5
Perspectives of Community 6
Social Science Perspective 6
Institutional Perspective 6
Civil Society Perspective 7
Grassroots Level Perspective 7
Wrap-Up 9
Try This! 10
Challenge Yourself 11
Reflect on This 13
Photo Credits 14
Bibliography 14

Lesson 1.2

The Community in Various

Unit 1: Concepts and Perspectives of Community

Perspectives

Introduction
At the edge of the compassionate reaction cycle to combat COVID-19, there are communities.
Without dynamic and functional community engagement, significant problems will spread to diverse
territories and cities within the Philippines. Communities have to be efficiently mobilized to contain or
avoid COVID-19.

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Unit 1: Concepts and Perspectives of Community

With the extensive impact of COVID-19, especially on the most vulnerable groups in our country,
the lives of Filipino families were disturbed. Subsequently, it is imperative to create procedures inside the
family to manage the unusual and eventually prepare efforts to combat this crisis.

DepEd Learning Competency

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to compare
and contrast the definitions of
community using various perspectives, e.g., social
sciences, institution, civil society, and local/grassroots level
(HUMSS_CSC 12-IIa-c-2).

Learning Objectives
In this lesson, you should be able to do the following:
● Discuss the community as a social construct.
● Explore the various perspectives of the community.
● Evaluate the different concepts of the community.

Let’s Connect

i-Barangay 10 minutes

Identify one major issue or problem that your local barangay currently faces. Select three people to
share their opinions, thoughts, or positions about the issue or problem. Ask them to think of ways or
possible solutions to solve the issue or problem.

Major Issue or Problem: ______________________________________________

People Opinion/Position/Thoughts Solution

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Unit 1: Concepts and Perspectives of Community

Guide Questions
1. Who plays major roles in your barangay’s community planning and action?
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2. Whose interest do these groups or individuals protect?

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3. What are the varying perspectives that play a vital role in your community?
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Unit 1: Concepts and Perspectives of Community

Discover
Various Concepts of a Community
The community can be understood as a concept or as a construct. It is not tangible (i.e., it cannot be
seen, and it cannot be touched). Experiencing the uniqueness of one community requires a person to
continuously engage in its activities and processes.

Fig. 1. Celebration of the Feast of Santo Niño the Infant Jesus in Manila, Philippines.

A community is not only considered by the individuals who are in it but also by its current
inhabitants who will likely proceed to exist when most of the previous individuals, such as senior citizens
or overseas migrant workers, have passed on or moved out. A community is also considered as something
that is passed beyond its exceptional components, its inhabitants, or its members.
A community, like all of society and culture, is composed of the considerations and activities of
individuals. A community may not have a physical area but can be delineated by being a group of

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Unit 1: Concepts and Perspectives of Community

individuals with a common interest (Bartle 2014, par 4–7). Thus, members of a community have a unified
decision in continuing which programs they deem fit for the community’s improvement.

Community as a Social Construct

The concept of a community is a sociological construct. It is a set of continuous interactions and
human behaviors that have meaning and expectations among its members. This involves action based on
the shared expectations, values, beliefs, and meanings among community members.

In the context of community action, the members must have a proposed plan of programs that can
be considered beneficial to the community as a whole. This social construct maintains the unity among
the community’s members to continually aim for progress and create an environment for its members to
thrive and progress despite challenges.

Community within Communities

Some large communities contain other smaller communities within their areas or their boundaries.
These include the province’s districts, country’s regions, ethnic groups in the same areas, groups of
nations, and other borders. Different communities can live and coexist together, like the Aetas and
Tagalogs in Rosario, Batangas. But in some places, unity among these communities might be challenging
because of conflicting political, cultural, and historical backgrounds.

Community as a Cultural Concept

The community includes a life of its own that goes past the entirety of all the lives of its inhabitants.
A community is cultural because it is a social organization. It is a system of systems composed of traditions
and practices learned by members or groups of individuals from the community itself.
A community’s culture may distinguish it from other communities. It allows the community to have
its own identity and expand it even to its neighboring communities. A community must consider creating
organizations or groups that preserve cultural practices, such as arts, dances, clothing, and literature, so
that these can be enjoyed and appreciated by the younger generations.

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Unit 1: Concepts and Perspectives of Community

Perspectives of Community

Social Science Perspective

A community can be characterized by depicting its social and political systems that bind people,
community organizations, and leaders. Understanding these systems is necessary for arranging
efforts in engagement. For example, following social ties among people may offer assistance to
leaders in distinguishing a community’s authority, understanding its behavior patterns, determining
its high-risk groups, and reinforcing its networks (Minkler et al. 1997).

Institutional Perspective
A community is comparable to a living creature from an institutional perspective. Composed of
diverse parts that function uniquely, a community has distinctive parts that speak to specialized
capacities, exercises, or interests that work inside particular boundaries to meet the community’s
needs. These separated functions can be observed in schools focused on child learning, transport
groups focused on moving people and products, economic entities focused on enterprise and
creation of job opportunities, church and faith organizations focused on the spiritual and physical
well-being of individuals, and health centers and hospitals focused on the prevention and treatment
of diseases. The operation and connection of each sector have vital roles in sustaining the balance of
the community. From an institutional perspective, a good community should work cooperatively and
must have interdependent sectors that share duty for recognizing and settling issues and improving
its well-being. Integration, collaboration, and coordination are key parts in an effective establishment
of an approach that will lead toward a community's improvement.

Civil Society Perspective

The term civil society became prevalent in political and economic talks in the 1980s, when it was
recognized with non-state developments that were resisting dictator administrations, particularly in
central and eastern Europe and Latin America. Civil society, also known as the third sector (after
government and commerce), has the control to impact the activities of chosen policy-makers and
businesses. But the nature of a respectful society—what it is and what it does—is advancing in reaction to
mechanical improvements and more subtle changes inside societies (Jezard 2018, par 1-5).

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Unit 1: Concepts and Perspectives of Community

Although this term can always be read or heard from the media and lawmakers, there are quite a few
who can make an established definition of what a civil society might be. Considering the World Bank’s civil
society interpretation, there is a wide array of multiple groups of individuals and constructed
organizations that share a common identity and belief. This can be a small group of vulnerable individuals
such as women, youth, elderly, and indigenous groups. It can also be a large communion of groups with
shared interests like labor unions, non-government organizations, faith-based organizations, professional
associations, and foundations.

Grassroots Level Perspective

As observed by various community leaders and scholars, each individual has their sense of
community beyond its definitions and essence. In addition, these individuals may share a unique sense of
belonging in more than one community. This may sometimes lead to a change in their sense of
membership; they may not be responsive in participating in community-led activities in the future.

Unifying the varying perspectives from the grassroots level, we have to understand the idea of self.
To describe it, philosopher and psychologist William James shed light on this issue in his studies. He stated
that it is important to consider two points of view on identity: the “I,” or how a person considers
approximately himself or herself, and the “me,” or how others see and think about him or her. These two
may agree sometimes, but most of the time do not. The result of shared identity with the development of
individualism can cause false assumptions of differences in appearance, language, and culture of origin.
Opposing traditions and political beliefs may be a challenge in sustaining the shared identity that a
community wants to achieve (ATSDR 2015, 5–6).

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Unit 1: Concepts and Perspectives of Community

In Philippine Context
To reach an understanding of the community, we need to understand the fundamentals of
social interaction. Virgilio Enriquez, regarded as the Father of Filipino Psychology, investigated the
concept of kapwa. In the Filipino-English dictionary, the term pertains to other individuals. A more
coordinated interpretation from Filipino to English would allow the terms both, fellow being, or
others. For Enriquez, kapwa contradicts these interpretations; it is the solidarity of the self and the
others. Within its English interpretation, the self and the other are different and separate; in Filipino,
these two are joined. Kapwa is essentially the shared identity of one’s self and others.

To make the term kapwa into a verb, it becomes pakikipagkapwa. Pakikipagkapwa as a social
activity has several modes of social interaction, namely:
1. Pakikitungo or transaction/civility with
2. Pakikisalamuha or interaction with
3. Pakikilahok or joining/participating in
4. Pakikibagay or in conformity with/in accord with
5. Pakikisama or being along with
6. Pakikipag-palagayang loob or being in rapport with or understanding or accepting of
7. Pakikisangkot or getting involved
8. Pakikiisa or being one with

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Unit 1: Concepts and Perspectives of Community

In the lesson, we see the community’s significance in different ideal models and perspectives.
Supporting the explanation of kapwa by Enriquez, we can view the community as the pillar of the self
and of our “self.” This is reinforced by the Adlerian idea of the self in which man is seen as a unit, a
self-conscious entirety that works as an open system (Lee & Ansbacher 1964, 358). Portraying the self
as an open system requires the idea of outside strengths that encompasses it, which relates to the
environment. One can be called an ecological environment with which we are relating to all living
things collaborating in a certain space.

Wrap-Up
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● Community can be discussed based on different views in social science lenses: community as a
social construct, community as a cultural concept, and as a community within communities.
● Community as a sociological construct is a set of interactions and human behaviors that have
meaning and expectations among its members. It is not just an action, but actions based on
shared expectations, values, beliefs, and meanings among individuals.
● There are communities within communities, and these include districts, regions, ethnic groups,
nations, and other boundaries.
● A community is cultural. That means it may be a system of systems composed of things that are
learned instead of inherited from genes and chromosomes.
● There are various perspectives in which communities can be explored: social science perspective,
institutional perspective, civil society perspective, and grassroots level perspective.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Try This!
A. True or False. Write true if the statement is correct. Otherwise, if the statement is incorrect, write
false.

_____________ 1. Multiple communities have the potential to accommodate, enable, and encourage
individual differences through a variety of communities.

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Unit 1: Concepts and Perspectives of Community

_____________ 2.
The structure of the community is connected to the social interaction of its
individuals.

_____________ 3.
From a sociological constructivist point of view, the community is a set of
interaction that includes human behaviors which have meaning and expectations
among its members.

_____________ 4.
It is imperative that the investigation utilizing the social sciences ought to play a
dynamic part in tending to regions of social concern and clarifying the diverse
features of a community.

_____________ 5.
The role of civil groups is to go against the government and businesses whose only
interest is for the benefit of the few.

_____________ 6.
From an institutional perspective, collaboration is relevant because it is part of a
logical approach to improvement.

_____________ 7.
From an institutional perspective, community engagement needs a basic view of
human rights law. It is suggested to achieve a rights-based approach.

_____________ 8.
The community concept is a political construct that people are made to believe for
one’s particular goal or interest.

_____________ 9. As a social science researcher, it is good to look at the things that are
important to the community: distinguishing a community’s authority,
getting its behavior patterns, determining its high-risk groups, and
reinforcing its networks.

_____________ 10. Location is a vital component of a community.

B. Short-Response Essay. Answer the following questions briefly and coherently.

1. What is the significance of preserving the culture of a community?

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Unit 1: Concepts and Perspectives of Community

__________________________________________________________________________
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2. What is the importance of the presence of civil society groups?

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3. What differences can you enumerate between the institutional perspective and the grassroots
level perspective?
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Challenge Yourself
Short-Response Essay. Answer the following questions briefly and coherently.

Consider this situation: There will be an action drive set by the groups of your local barangay to
give service to the teachers in disseminating information about plans for the next quarters of the school
year. These plans focus on how to improve the situation of the community based on various

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Unit 1: Concepts and Perspectives of Community

perspectives. Enumerate one program that can be adopted by your local barangay in the community and
provide a sentence that explains how this plan can help make the community more progressive.

1. Social Science Perspective

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2. Institutional Perspective
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3. Civil Society Perspective

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4. Local/Grassroots Perspective
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Unit 1: Concepts and Perspectives of Community

__________________________________________________________________________
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Suggested Rubric for Grading

The rubric below is a suggested one. Your teacher may modify the rubrics based on your needs.
Consult your teacher for the final rubric.

Performance Level s

1 2 Proficient 3 Suggeste d
Criteria Score
Weight
Beginning Advanced
Proficiency Proficiency

Understanding of The answer did not show ×3

the Perspectives understanding of the The answer somewhat The answer clearly shows
shows an understanding of an understanding of the
perspective s. the perspectives. perspectives.

Depth of The answer did not provide The answer presents ×2

appropriate explanations. appropriate explanations.
Response The answer somewhat
provides an appropriate
explanation.

Proving The answer did not provide The answer provides ×1

details to prove his or her enough appropriate
The answer somewhat
understanding of
provides details to prove his or her
perspectives.
understanding of
appropriate details to prove
perspectives.
his or her understanding of
perspectives.

Total Possible Score 18

Reflect on This
Why is it important to understand the community from various perspectives?

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Unit 1: Concepts and Perspectives of Community

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Photo Credits
Slum in Manila during flooding by SuSanA Secretariat is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via
Flickr.

Santo Nino Infant Jesus idolatry in Manila Philippines 2016 by Glendale Lapastora is licensed under CC
BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Bibliography
Bartel, Phil. “What is Community.” Community Empowerment Collective. January 2014.
http://cec.vcn.bc.ca/cmp/modules/com-wha.htm.

Garganta, Y. “Introduction to Community Engagement.” Unpublished manuscript, October 13, 2020.

Typescript.

Global Initiative for Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. A GI-ESCR Practitioner’s Guide: A Rights-Based
Approach to Participation. May 2014.

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Unit 1: Concepts and Perspectives of Community

http://globalinitiative-escr.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/GI-ESCR-PractitionersGuilde-on-Rig
ht-to-Participation.pdf.

Jezard, Adam. “Who and What is ‘Civil Society?’” World Economic Forum. April 2018.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/04/what-is-civil-society.

McCloskey, Donna Jo, Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, J. Lloyd Michener, Tabia Henry Akintobi, Ann Bonham,
Jennifer Cook, Tamera Coyne-Beasley, et al. “Community Engagement: Definitions and
Organizing Concepts from the Literature.” In Principles of Community Engagement, 3–41. USA:
Department of Health and Human Services, 2011.

United Nation Population Fund. “The Human Rights-Based Approach.” 2014. Accessed November 2,
2020. https://www.unfpa.org/human-rights-based-approach.

Verona, MC. “Understanding Community Really Important?” Unpublished manuscript, September 10,
2018. Typescript.

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