Core Subject:

Understanding Culture, Society and Politics

Quarter I - Module 2
LEARNING COMPETENCY: Analyze the concept, aspects and changes in/ of culture and society

CONCEPT, FORMS, VARIATION, ELEMENTS AND ASPECTS OF CULTURE

Culture – refers to that complex whole which include knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, laws, customs,
and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as member of a society. (Edward H. Taylor)

Forms or Two types of Culture:

1. Material culture - composed of tangible things like food, tools, dress, accessories and others.
2. Non-material culture – composed of intangible things such as habits, ideas, religion, language
and behavior

What is it?
Activity 1.1 Exploring Community-Wonders!!!
Directions: Write down what you have been observed in your society when it comes to the following
enumerated below.

Activity 1.2 Culture Imagi-hibit!

Directions: Identify what forms of culture enumerated below. Put a check ( / ) inside the column where
it belonged.

Examples of Culture Tangible Intangible

1. A reincarnation belief
2. House and lot
3. Suffrage
4. Rizal’s Monument
5. Democracy

Cultural Variation – refers to the differences in social behaviors that cultures exhibit around the
world. In the Philippines differences in social behaviors are influence with cultures in a specific places
and tribes. So with the different people in different countries they have also different norms and values
that exists within their groups.

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Example of Cultural Variation in Dress Styles
Indonesia Philippines Thailand

Elements of Culture
Knowledge – refers to any information received and perceived to be true
Beliefs – the perception of accepted reality
reality - refers to the existence of things whether material or non-material
Social Norms – these are established expectations of society as to how a person is supposed to
act depending on the requirements of the time, place, or situation.

Components of Culture
1. Symbols- refer to things that convey or represent an idea. They are essential in communication,
shaping thoughts and ideas, and defining a society’s culture
2. Language- is a set of symbols that enables members of society to communicate verbally (spoken)
and nonverbally (written, gestures)
3. Values- are shared ideas, norms and principles that provide members of society the standards
that pertain to what is right or wrong, good or bad, desirable and undesirable.
4. Norms- are shared rules of conduct that determine specific behaviour among society members.
(ex: folkways, mores, laws)

Aspects of Culture
Below are collage pictures showing the reality of an aspects of culture that support the development of
man’s social interaction.
1. Culture are dynamic, flexible, and adaptive
-as culture is dynamic and changing, it is possible for a society to forge an identity and
culture that are completely different from its past.
2. Culture are shared and contested
ex: a father sharing farming or fishing techniques to a son
- faith or belief in the community
3. Culture are learned or transmitted through socialization or enculturation
The presence of “Chinatowns” in several countries allow a two- way process of socialization
and enculturation. Chinese learned from Filipinos and Filipinos learned from Chinese
Culture is acquired through socialization and enculturation.
Socialization is the process of forging identity through social interaction and social agents
(family, peers, school, church, etc;
Enculturation is the process whereby an individual learns and acquires the culture of the
society he or she belongs to.
4. Culture is patterned social interaction
5. Culture is integrated and at times unstable
- many other facets of culture such as religion, economic activities and political processes do not
function in isolation( or separate) but as an integrated whole)
6. Culture requires language and other forms of communication
- the cultural traits of society are passed on to younger members in the process of growing up
and through teaching

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 CONCEPT, TYPES AND COMPONENTS OF SOCIETY

Society is a group of individual sharing a common culture, geographical location and government. It is
characterized by the presence of the following elements:

Elements of Society
a. Social solidarity- whereby members of the community live together for mutual benefit
b. Shared identity and culture among members that serve as basis for their patterns of actions and
behaviour
c. A common language
d. A large population and the ability to sustain succeeding generations of members
e. Definite geographical area
f. Political, economic and social organizations

Types of Society
Primitive
it means belonging to a society
in which people live in a very
simple way, usually without
industries.
Types of Society
Rural
a society in which there is a low
ratio of inhabitants to open land
and in which the most
important economic activities
are the production of foodstuff,
fibres, and raw materials
Urban
a society that is typical of
modern industrial civilization
and heterogeneous in cultural
tradition, that emphasizes
secular values, and that is
individualized rather than
integrated contrasted with folk
society

Though individual societies have varying histories, experiences, identities and organizations, all of them
have four vital cultural components: symbols, language, values, and norms.

Social Differences – refers to the situation where people are discriminated based on economic status,
social characteristics and qualities. These may include race, ethnicity, gender, and professions. In spite
of these differences people continue to do their responsibilities as members of society. These are the
common social differences among people in the world;
• Sex – refers to the biological characteristics that distinguish a male from a female
• Gender Roles -refers to attitudes and behaviors that the society expect a person based on
his/her sex
• Socio-economic class- the high income, the middle income and the low income class
• Ethnicity- which refers to the ethnic group who have common culture, language and
history
• Race –which refers to the group of people who shared inherited physical characteristics
such as skin color, facial features and body structure

Activity1.2 Give me one!

Directions: Provide column B with one (1) example for each social differences in column A.
Column A Column B
a. Sex
b. Ethnicity
c. Religion
d. Socio- economic status

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 What I can Do? (PERFORMANCE TASK)
Trip Ko To for Today’s Bidyo!
Directions: You are going to roam around within your community observe and list down of tangible and
intangible heritage. Take sample pictures or videos so that you can review the happenings during the
trip. After the trip make a narrative report and reflection paper with picture for submission to the
teacher. Write in A4 size bond paper.
Rubrics:
Relevance to the topic, thoughts and ideas -------------------25
Creativity of portfolio or video……………………………………….25
Total …………………………………………………………………………….50 pts.

CULTURAL CHANGE

Cultural change is a concept that denotes some internal and external factors leading to change in the cultural
pattern of societies. It can be material as well as non-material culture. Cultural change may come from many
sources but most of them comes through contact with other culture, inventions and internal adjustment of
culture.
Try to look at the differences between the two pictures.

PICTURE A PICTURE B

FACTORS OF CULTURAL CHANGE

There are three main factors of cultural change:
A. Contact: The contact between two societies will obviously change the culture of both the societies
through the process of “cultural diffusion” and “acculturation”.
Example: Because of colonization, the Philippines had contacts with the Spaniards.
This is the reason why most of the Filipinos are Roman Catholics because the Spaniards introduced it to
us.
In Pictures A and B, people wear different kinds of clothing. The conservative baro’t saya in Picture A is
no longer seen in Picture B. It is because the kind of clothes people wear nowadays are influences of
western cultures. The Philippines’ contact with this western countries led to these changes be-cause we
were able to blend their culture to our culture.

B. Technology Evolution (Invention or Innovation): Any technological evolution in the country will
bring change to the culture also. This includes changes in production technology, changes in the means
of communication, changes in the means of transportation and many more. Cultural phenomenon may
adopt to changes.
Example: Before, people use caleza, or wagons pulled by carabaos for transportation. Today, we ride
buses, trains, cars, and airplanes to travel from one place to another. You will notice in Picture B that
there are already automobiles. This invention and innovations changed the way people travel easier
and more comfortable.

C. Geographical and Ecological Factor: The geographical and ecological factor is a natural or a
physical factor. The climate or rainfall, attitude of the place, closeness to the sea decides the culture and
lifestyle of the people. Any change in the physical features will automatically lead to a change in their

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 culture, habits and way of living. This may include migration. If people prefer to live in a different
location, they may adopt to the culture in that place if the circumstances warrant such change.
Example: The way of living and livelihood of the community near the sea is fishing, while those
community who lives in the mountains do farming and hunting. Consequently, if you live in the farm
and mountain and use carabao wagons for transportation, this will not be applicable in the city. So if
you will migrate in the city you will buy an automobile rather than buy a caleza because cars and
motorcycles are the mode of transportation in the city. That is why you see a motorcycle in Picture B
and not a wagon.
Cultural change is a concept that denotes some internal and external factors leading to change in the
cultural pattern of societies. It can be material as well as non-material culture. Cultural change may
come from many sources but most of them comes through contact with other culture, inventions and
internal adjustment of culture.

LET’S LEARN:

PICTURE A PICTURE B

POLITICAL CHANGE

Political Change: Definition, Purpose & Types

Yes. These is an example of political change. When there is a significant disruption in a
government in a government that leads to new or modifies leadership or policies, we call this type of
change as “political change.” These changes are important be-cause the government controls many
aspect of our lives. Political change may also occurs when the rulers in a country lose power or the type
of governance in the country changes. Governance is the type of system used to rule a country.

TYPES OF POLITICAL CHANGE

1. Change in Leadership- Rulers will be voted out, retire, or die while in power, and the new leader will make
changes. The more powerful countries will anticipate political change and make the process clear and
smoothly. In our country we have our elections and it is our way of changing our leaders. Our policies will
depend upon the principles and beliefs of such elected leaders. In the past, the Philippines has been under
Military rule, democratic rule, dictatorship depending on the leader’s governance.
Example: When President Rodrigo Duterte was elected president, he imposed a strong policy to eradicate
drugs in the country. That is why the law enforcement agencies intensified their programs to apprehend users
and pushers and to stop violence brought about by drug addiction.

2. Change in Policies- when a change in policy is required, people oftentimes resort to social movement.
People often go to the streets and voice their side of what they believe, such as rallies and protests. One
example of this is the EDSA People Power Revolution. Nowadays, protesters will go to streets if they feel that a
certain policy should be revised, if they think the government is doing something wrong or if they think that a
human right is violated.

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 Indeed, the COVID 19 pandemic brought political changes that affected the communities’ social, economic
and health factors. The policies that were set by the government were needed to ensure that the spread of
the virus will be controlled and to make sure that the patients will survive and get well.
But the effect of these political changes will not be the same throughout the country. Let us take for
example the Igorots who live in the mountains of Northern Luzon. If no one among them will be exposed to
the virus, then no one will get sick of COVID 19 among them. So given the distance of their place to the
epicenter of the pandemic, do you think they are also observing the social distancing measure? Do you also
think they are observing the stay at home policy?

SOCIAL CHANGE

Social change -refers to any significant alteration over time in behavior patterns and cultural values
and norms. This change is brought about by modernization and the impact of globalization that resulted
to cultural change among Filipino people.
Example - Filipino way of courtship:

Traditional way of courtship Modern way of courtship

Causes of Social change:

1. INTERVENTION - production of new objects, ideas and social pattern.
2. DISCOVERY - taking note of certain elements of a culture.
3. DIFFUSION - the spread of cultural elements from one area or group.
4. CONFLICT - social conflict arising from inequality would force changes in every society.
5. IDEAS AND CHANGE - ideas can fuel social movements which bring out social change.
6. DEMOGRAPHICS AND CHANGE - population patterns also play a part in a social change like
migration within in among societies.

Activity 1.3 – What’s the Effect?

Directions: Explain the advantages and disadvantages brought about by modernization as part of social
change.
Advantages:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Disadvantages:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_ __________________________________________________________________________________________