DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

•
REGION VII-CENTRAL VISAYAS
Schools Division of Mandaue City
Sudlon, Lahug, Cebu City, Cebu

Basic Concepts and Principles of the Major

Social Science Ideas in
Hermeneutic Phenomenology & Human-
Environment System

DISCIPLINES & IDEAS IN THE SOCIAL

SCIENCES
GRADE 11-HUMSS
First Quarter, Module 10

Self-Learning Module
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 FOREWORD

This is a Self-Learning Module in Discipline and Ideas in the Social Science

(DISS), one of the major subjects under the Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS)
strand, Academic Track. This is a simplified module intended for all Grade 11 HUMSS
students designed to meet their needs as 21st century Learners. It is anchored on a
holistic approach in developing the basic learning competencies in DISS of the Senior
High School Curriculum. The lessons are presented in a manner that allow students
to learn at their own pace while learning away from school. The activities given are
simple and easy to work with. The lessons presented are easily understood yet
allowing the students to think in a wider perspective.

This Self-Learning Module (SLM) is intended to provide you knowledge-based

and actual learning experiences. This aims to monitor your own learning at your own
schedule wherein you can study and decide the importance of the information found
in this module. Please follow the instructions carefully. Just take your time and enjoy
as you answer the exercises.

FOR THE PARENTS/GUARDIANS

Please make a follow-up whether your son/daughter is following the

instructions written in this module and guide them on how to answer the exercises
provided. Feel free to contact me if you have some questions about this SLM.

With this self-learning module, the author hopes that the student would be an
active Social Scientist, a proficient learner ready to compete not only in local but also
in global arena. As this module is prepared for all Grade11 HUMSS Students, it is
hoped that they will better understand the lessons and activities presented as this will
be one of their instruments as future Social Scientist.

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The following are important reminders in
using this SLM:
1. Use the SLM with utmost care. Do not write or mark
anything in any of the pages of the module. Use a
separate sheet of paper in answering the Pretest, Post-
Test and activities.
2. Do not forget to answer the Pretest before you transfer
and move on to the rest of the pages in this module.
3. Kindly read carefully the directions for every activity.
4. Observe honesty and integrity in performing all of the
activities given and in checking your own work.
5. Accomplish first the recent activities before moving on
to the next.
6. Please return the module to your teacher or facilitator
after performing all the intended activities.

Feel free to consult your teacher if ever you find difficulty in

answering all the test and activities prepared for you. You
can also consult and ask help from your parents, elder
brothers and sisters or any member of the family. Always
remember that you are not alone, there are people around
ready to help you.

We are hopeful that through this SLM, you can experience

a valuable learning and gain knowledge and deep
understanding of the given competency. You can do it!

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 LEARNING COMPETENCY:

▪ *Analyze the social science ideas and its importance in examining socio-
cultural, economic, and political conditions.
a. Hermeneutical Phenomenology
b. Human-Environment System

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of this self-learning module, the students are expected to:

1. identify the value of interpretation in social scientific inquiry;

2. describe the central features of the human-environment system approach to
the study of environment and social issues;
3. explain the contributions of hermeneutic phenomenology and human-
environment systems in the study of human behavior;
4. analyze the significance of data; and
5. analyze the social science ideas and its importance in examining socio-
cultural, economic, and political conditions.

PRETEST

Directions. Read properly the statements. Write your answer on a separate sheet of
paper. Write only the letter.

1. What is the other name of Hermeneutic Phenomenology?

A. Descriptive Phenomenology C. Transcendental Phenomenology
B. Interpretive Phenomenology D. Universal Phenomenology
2. It is used to interpret the meaning of lived experiences and communicate the
interpretation textually or symbolically.
A. Descriptive Phenomenology C. Transcendental Phenomenology
B. Hermeneutic Phenomenology D. Universal Phenomenology

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3. It is also known as transcendental phenomenology.
A. Descriptive phenomenology C. Transcendental Phenomenology
B. Interpretive Phenomenology D. Universal Phenomenology
4. The art and science of interpretation
A. Descriptive phenomenology C. Transcendental Phenomenology
B. Interpretive phenomenology D. Universal Phenomenology
5. What is the aim of phenomenology?
A. Analyzing the phenomena C. Description of phenomena
B. Application of Phenomena D. Understanding of phenomena
6. The core meaning of an individual’s experience that makes it what it is.
A. Essence C. Reduction
B. Intentionality D. Reflectivity
7. It is the person’s reflection upon or examination of a situation or experience.
A. Essence C. Reduction
B. Intentionality D. Reflexivity
8. It is the family of approaches.
A. Hermeneutic phenomenology C. Social Approaches
B. Phenomenological psychology D. Social methodologies
9. What do you mean by HES?
A. Hands-on Experimental Strategies C. Humble and Elegant System
B. Human-Environment Systems D. Human Economic System
10. It refers to the interaction of human systems with corresponding
environmental or technological systems.
A. Economics C. Science and Environment
B. Human-environment system D. Social Studies
11. What do you mean by CHANS?
A. Couple Human Economic strategies
B. Coupled human and natural system
C. Conserve Hands-on Annual Natural System
D. Conservation of Human Active Natural System
12. What are the common human causes of environmental change?
A. Burning coal C. Releasing heavy metals
B. Population growth D. All of the above
13. This is an effect of environmental change on things people value.
A. Climate change C. Growing seasons and rainfall
B. Forest degradation D. Population growth and migration
14. The study of CHANS is related to these subjects except.
A. Ecological anthropology C. Human ecology
B. Environmental geography D. Philosophy
15. The resource which is responsible both for the conservation and destruction
of nature?
A. human C. land
B. natural D. physical

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 DISCUSSION

In the previous modules you have learned social science ideas which includes:
Psychoanalysis, Rational Choice, Institutionalism and Feminist Theory.
Now, here are another two important social science ideas and its importance
in examining socio-cultural, economic, and political conditions. These are the
Hermeneutic Phenomenology and the Human-Environment System.

************
HERMENEUTIC PHENOMENOLOGY
(Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences, Ross D. Dela Cruz, et.al. Phoenix
Publishing House, Quezon City, 2016, pp 88-92)

GUIDE QUESTIONS:

What is hermeneutics? What is the difference between descriptive phenomenology

and hermeneutic or interpretive phenomenology? Is hermeneutic phenomenology a
method of research or a theoretical viewpoint or orientation?

Hermeneutic Phenomenology by Jhaphril kaibee Francisco (prezi.com)

Hermeneutic phenomenology is a particular type of phenomenology among a

range of phenomenological methodologies, usually classified into two camps, namely
the descriptive phenomenology and the interpretive phenomenology. Descriptive
phenomenology was developed by Edmund Husserl and interpretive or hermeneutic

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phenomenology by Martin Heidegger (Sloan and Bowe 2014, 1). A basic difference
between the two camps is that “hermeneutic phenomenology is used to interpret the
meaning of lived experiences and communicate the interpretation textually or
symbolically, while transcendental phenomenology is based on discovering the
objective universal essences of lived experiences and communicating them through
pure description (Newberry, 2012,14).

Both Hussel and Heidegger sought to uncover the life

world or human experience as it is lived. Both
phenomenologists were convinced that the world is simply
one life world among many worlds (Laverty 2003).

Hussel’s descriptive phenomenology was and is also

known as transcendental phenomenology. Heidegger’s
interpretive phenomenology was and is also known as
hermeneutic phenomenology or existential
phenomenology. Defined as the interpretation of text or
Edmund Husserl language by an observer, or the “art and science of
interpretation” (Ezzy, 2002, p.24 in Tan et al., 2009, 2). Especially as it applies to
text, hermeneutics can be used as a methodology or as an enhancement of
phenomenology, hence , the name , interpretive phenomenology (Sloan and Bowie
2014, 5).

Descriptive and interpretive methodologies share four common features,

namely, description, reduction, essences, and intentionality (Kafle 2011, 181). The
aim of phenomenology is description of phenomena. Reduction is a process that
involves suspending or bracketing the phenomena so that the “things themselves’ can
be returned to. Likewise an essence is the core meaning of an individual’s experience
that makes it what it is. Finally, intentionality refers to consciousness since individuals
are always conscious to something. This means intentionality is the total meaning of
the object or the idea which is always more than what is given in the perception of a
single perspective (Kafle 2011, 181)

In principle, phenomenology focuses on people’s perceptions of the world or

the perception of the “things in their appearing” (Langdridge
2007, 11 in Sloan and Bowie 2014, 5). But there is a
variation between descriptive phenomenology and
interpretive phenomenology on this aspect.

Husserl believed that “the observer could transcend the

phenomena and meanings being investigated to take a
global view of the essences discovered; and objectivization
of the meanings of human experiences” (Sloan and Bowe,
2014, 6). A brief description of Husserl’s descriptive
phenomenology is described below.
Martin Heidegger

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 … the key to the study of a phenomenon was through consciousness and an
intentional grasping of the ultimate essences of the unique experience. However,
identification of the essences requires…phenomenological reduction, or “to set aside
all previous habits of thought, see through and break down the mental barriers which
these habits have set along the horizons of our thinking… to learn to see what stands
before our eyes” (p.43). This process has become known as bracketing… claims to
remove distortion of perception, by enabling a refraining from judgment through the
process of bracketing (Husserl 1931 in Tan et.al, 2009, 3).

In contrast, Heidegger was of the view “that the observer could not remove him
or herself from the process of essence-identification, that he or she existed with the
phenomena and the essences” (Sloan and Bowe, 6). What is central to Heiddegger;s
view was the use of language and the interpretation of a person’s “meaning-making”,
their attribution of meaning to phenomena (Sloan and Bpwe 2014, 6).

Disagreeing with Hisserl, Heidegger suggested that a philosopher cannot

investigate “things in their appearing’ to identify their essence s while remaining
neutral or detached from the things. This means “that it is not possible to bracket off
the way one identifies the essence of a phenomenon” (Langdridge 2007 in Sloan and
Bowe 2014, 6).

Between descriptive phenomenology and the hermeneutic phenomenology,

hermeneutic phenomenology is more complex. Its elements of temporality and
“being-in-the-world” make their variation possible. Under Heidegger’s hermeneutic
phenomenology, “the participants’ existence and relation to the world around the
philosopher is also accounted for. This added complexity was an attempt, by
Heidegger, to provide more clarity about phenomena for the philosopher or the
researcher , and to allow more practical applications of the approach to a wider range
of scenarios to which phenomenology might be applied (Sloan and Bowe 2014 ,8).

As a methodology, descriptive and hermeneutic phenomenologies also vary

significantly. In descriptive phenomenology, one has the technique of ‘bracketing off’
influences around a phenomenon to get to the essences (Smith et al 2009). The focus
of descriptive phenomenology is the correlation of the noema of experience (the
‘what’) and the noesis (the ‘how’ it is experienced). Once the things themselves ‘ have
been identified, or otherwise analyzed, descriptive phenomenology considers its work
done. The researcher can do what he or she likes with the outcomes, but those actions
will be a departure from descriptive phenomenology.

In hermeneutic phenomenology one has approaches that recommend to the

researcher to interpret the meanings found in relation to phenomena. Often these
approaches suggest the analysis of text to find these meanings and allow
interpretation. The focus is on understanding the meaning of experience by searching
for themes, engaging with the data interpretively, with less emphasis on the essences
that are important to descriptive phenomenology. Also, hermeneutic phenomenology

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prefers not to formalize an analytical method so that the context of the phenomenon
itself can dictate how the data are analyzed (Langdridge 2007 in Sloan & Bowe 2014,
9).

Van Manen (197 in Sloan and Bowe 2014, 3) noted that to apply the
hermeneutic phenomenology, a researcher “has to apply the skill of reading texts,
such as the text of transcripts, that is, the spoken accounts of personal experience.”
These spoken accounts of personal experience are what Van Manen (1997) referred
to as “isolating themes.” These isolating themes can be viewed as written
interpretations of lived experience. Using Van Manen’s (1997) words, Sloan and Bowe
(2014, 3) notes that any application of hermeneutic phenomenology requires the
examination of text, to reflect on its content in order to discover something ‘telling’,
something ‘meaningful’, something ‘thematic’. By having isolated phenomenal
themes, one can rewrite the theme while interpreting the meaning of the phenomenon
or lived experience.

Brought about by their difference in terms of their process of interpreting and

describing human experience to understand the central nature of that experience,
descriptive phenomenology and hermeneutic phenomenology also differ in terms of
the role of reflexibility. Reflexivity is a person’s reflection upon or examination of a
situation or experience. It can help in interpreting the meanings discovered, or add
value to those types of interpretations” (Langdridge 2007 in Sloan and Bowe 2014,
11).

Reflexivity describes the process in which the researchers are conscious of and
reflective about the ways in which their questions , methods, and subject position
might impact on the data or the psychological knowledge produced in a study
(Langdridge 2007 in Sloan and Bowe 2014, 11). Reflexivity is often mentioned in
hermeneutic phenomenology…This is where the researcher uses empathy or relevant
prior experience as an aid to data analysis and/or interpretation of meanings.
Reflexivity has no place in descriptive phenomenology-it is antithesis to the principle
of bracketing out influences on the phenomena so that they can be seen as ‘the things
themselves’ (Langdridge 2007 in Sloan and Bowe 2014, 12).

Among the fields of inquiry in the social sciences, it was the discipline of
psychology that adopted Husserl’s phenomenology. The philosophical perspectives
offered by phenomenology have been adopted as a methodology-or a family of
methodologies, so that phenomenological psychology can be seen as a ‘family of
approaches, which are all informed by phenomenology but with different emphases,
depending on the specific strand of phenomenological philosophy that most informs
the methodology’ (Langdridge 2007, 4 in Sloan and Bowe 2014).

To date the influence of descriptive phenomenology and hermeneutic

phenomenology is visible within the field if qualitative investigative methods. Some
have their antecedents in the former and some in the latter. However, hermeneutic

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or interpretive phenomenology is more prominent being listed as one of the various
sorts of qualitative methodologies of the social sciences. It is also applied to many
sorts of qualitative studies in the human sciences (Sloan and Bowe, 2014, 10).

Tan et al. (2009, 2) noted the application or use of hermeneutic

phenomenology in recent years in various applied disciplines such as nursing, social
work, mental health, and in the study of the experiences of hope and of grief.
Nevertheless, hermeneutic phenomenology remains to be both a theoretical
perspective and a methodology and not a method of research, and therefore, the
challenge to it is the clarity and accountability of its method. Like psychoanalysis,
hermeneutic phenomenology faces the critique posed by the positivists about claims
to scientific knowledge, one that is utterly objective and is the only type of evidence
that is valid and certain (Crotty 1998 in Tan et al., 2009, 2).

*************

HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT SYSTEM APPRAOCH

(Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences, Ross D. Dela Cruz, et.al. Phoenix
Publishing House, Quezon City, 2016, pp 75-79)

GUIDE QUESTIONS:

What is the human-environment system approach in the social sciences? What is it

important to understand the reciprocal relationship or mutual dependence between
human (persons) and environmental (nature) systems? How useful and relevant is
the human-environment system approach in the analysis of environmental and social
issues?

Human environment framework graphics (buddhajeans.com)

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 The Human-Environment Systems (HES) in the social sciences is an
interdisciplinary approach in the social sciences. It bridges the gap between, and
integrate knowledge from, the social and the natural sciences within one
framework in the study of environmental and social issues.
Human-environment system (HES) refers to “the interaction of human systems
with corresponding environmental and technological systems” Scholz & Binder,
(n.d. 791). The HES approach conceptualizes mutual dependence between human
and environmental systems. Scholz and Binder (n.d., 791) describe this mutual
dependence as “ two different systems that exist in essential dependencies and
reciprocal endorsement.” The use of the term human system or “social systems
ranging from society to individuals” (Apostle 1952 in Scholz and Binder n.d.) can
be traced as far back as the time of the ancient Greeks, while the use of term
environmental systems began late in the early nineteenth Century (Scholz and
Binder n.d. 791).
Human-environment interactions existed since time immemorial, but the scope
and intensity of these interactions have increased significantly since Industrial
Revolution. Whereas most of the early human-environment interactions have taken
place at a local/national scale, contemporary interactions between human and
natural systems have not only reached regional. Subregional, continental, and
global scales but have also become special concerns (Liu J et al., 2007).
The human-environment system, also referred to as the ‘coupled human-
environment system” or the “coupled human and natural system” or CHANS
“acknowledges the fact that human, as users, actors, and managers are not
external, but integral elements of the human-environment system” (Schrter
D.et.al.2004, 11). As integral parts of the human-environment system-as users,
actors, and managers-they become duty bearers themselves who must share the
responsibility for the sustainability of the human-environment system.
The science of CHANS build on but moves beyond previous work such as
human ecology, ecological anthropology, and environmental geography (Liu.et.al.,
2007). The following are three central features of HES or CHANS.
First, CHANS research focuses on the patterns and processes that link human
and natural systems. Second, CHANS research, such as integrated assessment
of climate change, emphasizes reciprocal interactions and feedbacks-both the
effects of human on the environment and the effects of the environment in humans.
Third, understanding within -scale and cross-scale interactions between human
and natural components (e.g., how large-scale phenomena emerge from local
interactions of multiple agents and in turn influence local systems) is a major
challenge for the science of CHANS. Although each of these three aspects has
been addressed in some studies on human-environment interactions, the science
of CHANS promotes the integration of all these aspects (Liu J et.al., 2007, 639).
Liu, J.et.al. (2007) made a clear articulation of the reason why an integration
of the three aspects is necessary. They argued that “such integration is needed to
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tackle the increased complexity and to help prevent the dreadful consequences
that may occur due to the fundamentally new and rapid changes, because the
magnitude, extent, and rate of changes in human-natural couplings have been
unprecedented in the past several decades, and the accelerating human impacts
on natural systems may lead to degradation and collapse of natural systems which
in turn compromise the adaptive capacity of human systems.”

pangea.standford.edu

To understand and appreciate the human-environment system (HES) approach

in the social sciences, the following discussion outlines three areas or fields of
inquiry where the HES approach is relevant and necessary both as an analytical
tool and framework.
One is the study of the human causes of environmental change-not only
proximate causes, such as burning coal, releasing heavy metals into rivers, and
clearing forests, that immediately change a part of the environment-but especially
indirect causes or driving forces such as population growth, economic
development, technological change, and alterations in social institutions and
human values, that must be understood to forecast trends in environmentally
destructive human activity and, if necessary, to change those trends.
A second field of inquiry concerns the effects of environmental change of things
people value-both proximate effects, such as on growing seasons and rainfall in
agricultural areas, soil fertility, endangered species, and so on, and indirect effects,
such as on population migrations, international conflicts, agricultural markets, and
government policies.
The third field is the study of the feedbacks between humanity and the
environment-the ways individuals, organizations, and governments act on the
basis of experienced or anticipated environmental change to manage human
activity and preserve environmental values. These feedbacks provide the greatest
challenge for scientists and policy-makers, partly because there are so many ways
people can intervene in the system (Stern 1993, 1897).
To date, significant studies on the many problems of human-environment
interaction have been undertaken. For example, “in understanding how people
perceive and judge environmental risks; how societies create institutions for

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managing common-property resources, such as fisheries, grasslands, and the
atmosphere; what brought about anthropogenic environmental changes in the
past; the dynamics of public concern about the environment; and the economic
forces affecting natural resource availability” (Stern 1993, 1898).
However, the field of inquiry of human-environment interaction has achieved
modest progress only. Stern (1993, 1898) identified both scientific and institutional
reasons that explain such modest outcome.
It has all the scientific problems of other interdisciplinary fields, but more
intensely because it involves all the disciplines of environmental science and those
of social science as well. It is difficult in such field to do high-quality interdisciplinary
work, integrate separate disciplinary projects, and set productive research
agendas, and some are tempted to proceed without the requisite background
knowledge.
There are also significant institutional barriers in academia and government.
Universities are reluctant to give institutional support to interdisciplinary fields that
do not yet have widespread recognition or a proven ability to attract
resources…the field does not have a unifying society or journal, university
departments, or the other conventional signs of a cohesive intellectual community.
In government, “there is an almost complete mismatch between the roster of
federal agencies that support research on environmental change and the roster of
federal agencies with strong capabilities.”
So, what can be done? Adopting the National Research Council report’s
recommendations for global change research, (Stern 1993, 1899) proposed that
there should be:
(1) Increased institutional and financial support for research, post-graduate
and -doctoral fellowships, as well as interdisciplinary research centers to
enhance interdisciplinary training;
(2) Improved systems for acquisition and management of data related to
human-environment interactions; and
(3) Environmental research activities of disciplinary associations in social
science.
*************

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 POST TEST

Directions. Read properly the statements. Write your answer on a separate sheet of
paper. Write only the letter.

1. For a rich man, what could be his description of being poor?

A. No real friends C. No enough money
B. No branded jeans D. Not being able to go to school
2. For someone who is an out-of-school, how could he cope up with living
everyday to feed his family with pride?
A. Learn a skill to work C. Beg along the sidewalks
B. Let children stop schooling D. Ask financial help from relatives
3. What is being-in-the-world mean?
A. How man relate to others
B. What human beings do to the world
C. Man’s experience when he is still alive
D. Participant’s existence and relation to the world
4. Spoken accounts of personal experience
A. Essence C. reduction
B. Isolating themes D. Reflexivity
5. Hermeneutic phenomenology can be applied in many fields, except.
A. Mental health C. Nursing
B. Science experiments D. Social work
6. To apply the hermeneutic phenomenology, a researcher has to apply the skill
of
A. Reading texts C. Analyzing events
B. Interpreting dreams D. Summarizing sentences
7. Who developed Hermeneutic Phenomenology?
A. Edmund Husserl C. Martin Heidegger
B. Sloan and Bowe D. Van Manen
8. Why Human-Environment Systems is an interdisciplinary approach?
A. It is connected with other sciences.
B. It can be related to some other subjects.
C. The teacher can discuss the topic with other subjects.
D. The discipline is intertwined with other social sciences.
9. What are the roles played by humans in the natural systems?
A. agents of change C. teachers and disciplinarians
B. organizer and facilitators D. users, actors and managers
10. There are driving forces or indirect causes of environmental change, which
does not belong?
A. Human values C. Economic development
B. Technological change D. Government policies

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 11. National Research Council reports recommendations for global change
research. What should be the first priority?
A. Creation of research centers
B. Environmental research activities
C. Increased institutional and financial support for research
D. Improved systems for acquisition and management of data
12. What research can be undertaken on the many problems of human-
environment interaction?
A. Why nature is destroyed
B. Where is the best place to breath clean air
C. What people have done to the environment
D. How societies create institutions for managing common-property
resources
13. What agency can best help save mother earth as it pushes people to follow
certain policies?
A. Church C. Government
B. Family D. School
14. It is the physical surroundings on Earth. It includes everything living and
everything nonliving.
A. Ecosystem C. Nature
B. Environment D. Surroundings
15. The negative impact humans have had on the environment that calls for
reforestation.
A. Deforestation C. Invasive species
B. Global warming D. Overharvesting

*******************

ACTIVITY 1

Directions: Meaningful Encounter. In this activity, you will try to interpret the
meaning of education. In particular, what education means to someone who is not in
school preferably an out-of-school youth.
The interview should give you the opportunity to learn about the problems and
aspirations of an out-school-youth. These would include, but not limited to, his or her
dreams, ambitions, plans, as well as his/her fears, anxieties, and issues in life (with
his or her family for instance, or with the authorities like the government). There is no
structured way of doing the interview, you can ask as many questions as you want,
or ask a few questions and then probe deeper into deeper into each question, or just
let your “interviewee” tell you his or her story.

15
 Once you have finished your interview, analyze the information that you have
gathered, and interpret what education is or means to an out-of-school youth. To help
you process and tease out the meaning of education to an out-of-school youth, please
answer the questions in the table below. Unless required, please write key words or
phrases only. After completing the table, please proceed to the processing questions.
Did you see one? What is it? That must be the meaning you are looking for.

MEANINGFUL ENCOUNTER
• What struck you most in his or her responses, or in his or her story? Please
write key words or phrases only.

• Did you notice any consistencies or inconsistencies in his or her

responses? What are these?

• Did s/he mention about any dreams or plans in the future? How did s/he
describe these dreams and plans?

• Does s/he has issues with her family (parents and siblings in particular ) or
with the authorities? What are these issues?

• How does s/he feel being out of school? Does s/he wish to go back to
school and earn a degree? Why or why not?

• Does s/he has a source of inspiration, one that provides him or her hope
and optimism in life? Who or what is this source of inspiration?

Processing Questions:

How did you find the whole experience? Did you share some of his/her dreams
and thoughts? How about his or her fears and anxieties in life? Are you also
facing the same issues and problems with your family and with authorities? In
what ways are you similar? Do you see yourself different from him/her? Why or
why not?

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 ACTIVITY 2

Directions. Write four words that you can associate the with the word
“hermeneutic phenomenology” and write a short explanation.

?
What is

? hermeneutic
phenomenolog
y
?

ACTIVITY 3

Directions: Green Alert. Identify one environmental issue or problem in your

community or village. Walk and look around your community while observing the
environmental problem that you identified.
Please write your analysis or assessment by completing the information
required in the following table.

GREEN ALERT

Your community’s environmental issue/problem is

_________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________.

CAUSES IMPACTS
Political Health and Well-being

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 Economic Economic Security

Sociocultural Peace and Order

Processing Questions:
• Is there something you can do now to avert the negative impacts on your
community? Why or why not? Please suggest a solution to the problems, and
outline your plan on how to do it.

ACTIVITY 4

Directions: Illustrate in your own way the relationship between human and the
environment. Explain your drawing in at least five sentences. Make your work creative,
neat and presentable. You may also write a title of your work.

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 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
REGION VII

SCHOOLS DIVISION OF MANDAUE CITY

NIMFA D. BONGO EdD CESO V

Schools Division Superintendent

ESTELA B. SUSVILLA PhD CESE

Assistant Schools Division Superintendent

JAIME P. RUELAN EdD

Chief, Curriculum Implementation Division

ISMAELITA N. DESABILLE EdD

Education Program Supervisor- (LRMDS)

GIOVANNA P. RAFFIÑAN EdD

Education Program Supervisor in Araling Panlipunan

BELLA VERDA M. OLIVEROS, MAEd, MPA

Writer/Layout Artist

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 SYNOPSIS

Social scientists have always been preoccupied with basic questions such as how
people behave and why people behave in the way they do, why institutions and policies
change, and why certain actions produce or result in different outcomes. The search for
answers and explanations to these questions brings out different factors and forces that
would account for a particular behavior.
This module allows the students to think, reflect and analyze the different social
science ideas and its importance in examining socio-cultural, economic, and political
conditions. In this specific module, the learners are exposed to the ideas on what
hermeneutic phenomenology and human-environment systems are all about. It is
intended that he/she will use social science inquiry to better understand how people and
different institutions relate with others and the environment.

About the Author: BELLA VERDA M. OLIVEROS,

MAED, MPA. She finished her baccalaureate degree from
Cebu Normal University with the degree Bachelor in Secondary
Education major in Social Science (2003) with Academic
Excellence award. She graduated Master in Education (MAEd)
major in Social Science at Cebu Technological University;
graduated Master in Education (MAEd) major in Guidance and
Counseling and Master in Public Administration (MPA) from
University of Visayas. She has Complete Academic
Requirements (CAR) for Doctor of Education major in
Leadership and Management from University of Visayas.
Presently, she’s taking up Doctor of Development Education at
Cebu Technological University.
At present, she is teaching in Mandaue City
Comprehensive National High School (MCCNHS)-SHS
Department, Mandaue City, Cebu.

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