Understanding

Culture, Society,
and Politics
Quarter 1 – Module 3:
Our Culture and Society
Understanding Culture, Society and Politics – Grade 12
Quarter 1 – Module 3: Culture and Society
First Edition, 2020

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Published by the Department of Education

Development Team of the Module

Writers: Vanessa T. Ramo
Editors: Delio A. Lapore
Reviewers: Desiree Victorino
Layout Artist: Vanessa T. Ramo
Template Developer: Neil Edward D. Diaz
Management Team: Reynaldo S. Guillena
Emma A. Camporedondo
Basilio P. Mana-ay, Jr.
Alma C. Cifra
Amelia S. Lacerna

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Understanding Culture,
Society, and Politics
Quarter 1 – Module 3:
Our Culture and Society
Introductory Message
For the facilitator:

Welcome to the third module in Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

with the title Our Culture and Society. Based on the Most Essential Learning
Competencies (MELC), this module is for one-week.

As a facilitator, encourage and guide your learners to work with the learning
activities independently and put consideration on each learners’ needs and
circumstances.

In this module, your learners will learn and understand culture based on the
sociological perspectives and theoretical approaches. You are encouraged to localize
the lessons by using examples from the community of the learners. By localizing,
you will be able to help your learners developed a deeper understanding and
appreciation of their culture and of its nature.

For the learner:

You are now in Module 3 of the subject Understanding Culture, Society, and
Politics. The goal of this subject is for you to acquire ideas about human culture,
human agency, society, and politics for you to be able to recognize cultural
relativism and social inclusiveness; this will help you overcome prejudices and
most especially to develop the social and cultural competence to guide your
interactions with others and communities.

Module 3 aims to help you develop a deeper understanding of the meaning of

culture and to develop a holistic understanding of culture and society.

The following are some reminders before you start with this module:

1. Be careful in handling the module. Do not put or write any marks on any
part of this module. Use a separate sheet of paper in answering the
exercises.
2. This module is divided into different parts. The following are the parts of this
module in chronological order: Let Us Learn, Let Us Try , Let Us Study,
Let Us Practice, Let Us Practice More, Let Us Remember, Let Us Assess ,
Let us Enhance, and Let Us Reflect. Do not skip any activity and observe
honesty in doing each activity.
3. Read the instructions carefully before doing each activity. Do not hesitate to
ask your teacher if you have a problem or difficulty in a particular activity.

This module is intended for independent learning. With the guidance of your
teacher, it is our desire that you will develop the necessary skills and knowledge
needed to succeed in today’s world.

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 Let Us Learn

In module 2, you studied the anthropological and sociological perspectives of

culture and society. The two disciplines have a consensus on the basic aspects of
culture like language, norms, symbols, and values, however, they have a different
viewpoint on how culture impacts the lives of the people. These differences are the
focus of the discussion of this module.

There are four lessons in this module as follows:

1. The Approaches to the Study of Culture and Society
2. Different Aspects of Culture and Society
3. Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentrism
4. Our Cultural Heritage

In this module, you will be able to:

1. discuss the different approaches to the study of culture and society;
2. explain the importance of cultural relativism in attaining cultural
understanding;
3. demonstrate a holistic understanding of culture and society; and
4. value cultural heritage and expression of pride of place without being
ethnocentric.

Let Us Try!

Directions: Study the illustration and answer the questions that follow.

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Processing Questions:

1. What does the picture tell you?

2. How is culture represented in the picture?

3. How will you describe the Filipino culture based on the picture?

That is great! Indeed, culture is everywhere. It is the food we eat, the clothes
we wear, ceremonies and festivities that we celebrate, practices, beliefs, and
traditions that we shared with our family and community. There is no doubt that
culture plays a very important role in our lives and recognizing its influences helps
in understanding our own person.

Let Us Study

There are things or ideas that are known and unknown to us. In the context
of culture, these unknown ideas are the tangible aspects and the unknown are the
intangible aspects of culture.

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 In the space below is an iceberg that represents your culture. In the visible
part of the iceberg, write all the tangible aspect of your culture and in the hidden
part of the iceberg, write its intangible aspect.

Source: pixabay

By now you realized already that there is a greater part of your culture that
is unknown and only those who have a deeper understanding of culture will see
and understand that part of your culture.

The Sociological Perspectives/ Approaches of Culture

In the previous activity, you have learned the basic definition of culture.
Basically, when ask what is culture the common answer is that it is a way of life.
There are actually many definitions of culture, however, for you to gain a deeper
and holistic understanding of culture, and a better understanding of others, it is
necessary to study how culture affects our life as an individual and as part of a
group and society. Below are the different perspectives / approaches to the study of
culture and society.

These are the three leading sociological perspectives/ approaches used to

study culture:

Functionalist Conflict Approach Interactionist

Approach Approach
➢ Study culture and ➢ It views society as ➢ It views culture as a
society in macro level negative, unequal, result of the face to
and conflicted. face interactions of
➢ It views society as a individuals in a
combination of ➢ Emphasize on social society.
institutions or inequality and view
functions that work institutions like ➢ It explains that people

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 together to achieve religion and interact and attach
stability and education as tools meanings to symbol
harmony. used by the and act based from
Capitalists (those their interpretations of
➢ It views culture as a who own and control these symbols.
necessity for a society the means of
to prevail. production) to ➢ Each object and action
manipulate and have a symbolic
➢ Each member of impose culture. meaning and language
society is is the tool in which
interdependent and ➢ The society’s unequal people communicate
contributed to the groups have different their understandings
society’s stability and values and agendas of these meaning to
harmony and culture that make them others.
exist to provide for the compete with one
members’ basic another. This conflict ➢ It sees culture as the
needs. resulted to the result of the
changes and interpretation of
➢ Its major drawback is development of individuals to symbol.
that it relies so much culture. Examples of
on the existing system this are the feminist ➢ Since it is micro-level
and undermined the groups who seek study of culture and
changes cause by reforms on certain society, it undermined
inequality among issues such as the effects of social
groups in the society reproductive health, forces and institutions
domestic violence, on the individuals’
and equal pay. interaction.

➢ Study society in
micro level, focusing
on individuals and
socio-economic
classes

➢ Undermines positive
aspects of society like
democracy and civil
rights.

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 Think of a relevant cultural issue in your community. Explain and evaluate
this cultural issue using one sociological perspective/ approach.

Different Aspects of Culture

What are your thoughts about the quote?

How will you relate it to the importance of
understanding culture?
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________

Culture influences one’s behavior. We usually look at people outside our

group as different. It is different because their beliefs, values, and ways of living are
not the same as ours. Every family, groups or institutions has its own culture. This
makes society complicated and dynamic.

Society and culture are synchronous, meaning they occur or exist together.
But let us not confuse the idea of culture with society. Culture represents
everything that individuals or groups have, while society represents the individuals
or groups who share them. Its culture differentiates one society from the other.

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 There are two interrelated components of culture. These components serve
as a lens to understand a culture holistically.

Material culture refers to the physical objects or spaces owned by

individuals or groups, like home, car, computers, and other goods and products.
These physical objects symbolize the cultural ideas of the people. The material
culture of society explains the social and cultural attitudes of its individuals or
groups.

Non-material culture refers the attitudes, ideas, beliefs, and values. These
are elements of culture that shaped the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of the
individuals or groups in a society. The study of these elements helps in
understanding culture holistically. These are:

1. Symbols are the non-verbal, verbal, written, and unwritten that conveys
meaning. The most important symbol is a language that allows individuals
to communicate with one another.

2. Rituals are the established ceremonies and methods of doing something.

3. Beliefs are the ideas that individuals or groups believe to be true. It can be
religious, like the idea of one God, or non-religious, like education as the key
to success.

4. Norms are what is considered normal in a society, the rules that guide the
behavior of the members of the society. An example of this is the written
laws.

5. Values guide people to what is right or wrong, fair, or just, and good or evil.
It is a culture’s standard or ideal on how people should behave. Examples
are the Filipino values like pakikisama at pakikitungo which reflect the
collectivist culture of the Filipinos. This means that it is our culture to give
more importance to the group’s welfare and relationship. This value is
contrary to the American value which emphasizes individuality and
independence.

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 What element of culture is depicted in the picture? How does this element
affect you as an individual?

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Write 5 examples of material and non-material culture. Write your answers

on the charts provided below.

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 Culture is undergoing rapid transformation. This cultural change and
development threatened and radically altered the quality of life and identity of the
people in a society, throughout the world, (Girard & Gentil,1983). Part of
understanding and appreciating culture holistically is to study the cause and
effects of these changes.

These are the leading influences responsible for cultural change and
development:

Globalization contacts between societies through worldwide integration of

political and economic policies resulted in the following:

a. Diffusion is the movement of cultural trait objects, inventions, or ideas from

one society to another excluding its cultural meaning which cause the
evolution of culture. An example is your favorite hamburger and fries,
comfort foods that are part of the American identity.

b. Acculturation is a process of learning and adopting the culture of others

while retaining one’s distinct culture. This resulted in cultural and social
change. A Dabawenyo, born and raised in Davao region who fluently speaks
Bisaya, Tagalog, and English language is an example of acculturation.

c. Transculturation is the process where an individual learns and accepts the

culture of others completely as its own. A classic example is colonialism
where Christianity became the main religion in the Philippines.

Innovations refer to new ideas, creative thoughts, or products and it has

two forms. It can be technological, like the internet and ideological like feminism
and government system.

How do computers and internet affect your

culture?

_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________

Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentrism

It is the nature of culture to change and develop, but it has the tendency
also to resist change. It is interesting to note that if there are processes in the
society that influence change, there are also those that resist it.

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 Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s culture is superior, and all others are
inferior. It is the tendency to look at others from the perspective of their own
culture. This belief leads to making wrong inferences about somebody's behavior
and attitude which ultimately leads to conflict.

One of the most essential goals of this module is for you to attain holistic
cultural understanding, to recognize that there is no better or worse culture. That
for you to understand others you should situate yourselves from their perspectives.
This ability is called cultural relativism.

Cultural relativism is a principle that promotes understanding of different

cultural beliefs and practices that are different and unfamiliar. The goal of cultural
relativism is to promote understanding of different cultural practices especially
those that is not part of one’s culture.

Examine the two concepts using the Venn Diagram. Write your answers on a
separate sheet of paper.

Cultural relativism Ethnocentrism

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Our Cultural Heritage

It said that culture is our right, a human right. It is our identity as an

individual and as a nation. With the current massive transformations caused by
globalization and innovations, we might lose a hundred years of culture and
traditions.

Cultural heritage is the tangible and intangible culture like beliefs, customs,
and traditions, and all evidence of creativity and expression like paintings, music,
dances, and architectures. It is our connection from the past, our present and the
future generations. It is either intangible or tangible.

There are three types of cultural heritage, these are:

1. Built that refers to houses and buildings and archaeological remains like the
Rice Terraces in Cordillera, Baroque Churches of the Philippines, and
Historic City of Vigan

2. Natural are natural landscapes like the Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife
Sanctuary, Puerto Princessa Subterranean River National Park and
Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park

3. Artifacts that refers to paintings, books, and documents

Protecting our cultural heritage is everyone’s responsibility. There are laws

created to ensure its protection and preservation. One of these is the Republic Act
no. 10066 known as the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009. This law provides
a detailed framework for the preservation of cultural heritage including cultural
sites, monuments, shrines, landmarks and old houses and buildings.

For additional readings about the importance of preserving culture and

heritage, you may wish to make an online reading about RA 10066 National
Cultural Heritage Act of 2009 or you may visit the nearest library or conduct an
interview with your barangay officials.

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 Let Us Practice

Situation: You are an anthropologist. Your task is to study your community. Your
work is to find out the answer to the following questions:

1. Who are the members of your community?

2. What makes your community different/interesting from other communities?
3. What are the challenges in your community?
4. How do members in your community think and act to address these
challenges?

Let Us Practice More

Use the diagram below in answering the following questions.

1. What specific culture, belief, or practice that your family has that others
may find unusual or different?
2. Identify how people outside your family react to this belief or practice. List
their reactions.
3. Which of these reactions is ethnocentric? How did you respond to these
reactions?
4. Come up with an explanation for this unique belief or practice of yours that
represents cultural relativism.

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 Let Us Remember

Write your significant understandings of the lessons in this module. Use the
diagram below.

Let Us Assess

I. Modified True or False. Write TRUE if the statement is correct. If it is incorrect,

replace the underlined word/s to make the statement correct.
Example: City ordinances are examples of values.
Answer: False – Norms
(Note: The statement is false based from the underlined word)

___________ 1. Culture refers exclusively to the fine arts and refined intellectual
taste.
___________ 2. Belief in God is an example of material culture.
___________ 3. People in Mati City has just as much culture as the people in Davao
City.
___________ 4. All groups and societies possess culture to the same degree.
___________ 5. Conflict approach is interested with how the capitalist who control
the means of material production impose their products, values, and
norms on other groups.
___________ 6. The process where a Filipino who permanently resides in Canada
and accepted all its culture is called diffusion.
___________ 7. Beliefs are standards against which people judge their own acts and
the acts of others.
___________ 8. Discrimination and conflict are the results of cultural relativism.

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___________ 9. Cultural relativism gives importance to understanding other
cultures.
___________ 10. Ethnocentrism is a belief on the superiority of one’s culture.

II. Multiple Choice. Read the question carefully. Select the letter of the correct
answer.

1. Which of the following terms is defined as the world-wide integration of

government policies, cultures, social movements and financial markets
through trade and the exchange of ideas?
a. Innovation c. globalization
b. Invention d. transformation

2. What is called the process of introducing a new idea or object to a culture?

a. acculturation c. diffusion
b. information d. transculturation

3. Which of the following terms refers to an expression of the ways of living

developed by a community and passed on from generations to generation,
including customs, practices, places, objects, artistic expressions, and
values?
a. arts c. arts and culture
b. culture d. cultural heritage

4. Which sociological perspective believes that culture represents the solutions

that the people of a society have worked out over time to meet the distinct
environmental and historical challenges?
a. conflict c. symbolic
b. functionalist d. none of the above

5. You want to study the culture of Filipino farmers who are the most
underprivileged among the agriculture sector in the country, what
sociological perspective/ approach are you going to use?
a. conflict c. symbolic
b. functionalist d. none of the above

6. Which sociological perspective/ approach views society as having a system of

interdependent and connected parts?
a. conflict c. symbolic
b. functionalist d. none of the above

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 Let Us Enhance

Performance Task: Create a poster with slogan that expresses your pride of
the cultural heritage of your community without prejudice to other’s culture.
Be guided with the rubric below.

CRITERIA EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR SCORE

7-8 pts. 5-6 pts. 3-4 pts 1-2 pts.
Graphics All graphics All graphics Some Graphics
Poster has are original are original graphics are are not
original and and shows original but original.
graphics that masterfully the there are
clearly show shows the community’s some that is
the cultural community’s cultural not part of
heritages of the cultural heritage. the
community heritage. community’s
cultural
heritage.
Slogan Slogan is Slogan does Slogan does Slogan
Original and catchy and a good job in not send a does not
expresses pride conveys strong sending strong give a
of one’s culture message about message message message
without any the topic. about the about the about the
bias to others topic. topic. topic.
Attractiveness The poster is The poster Poster is The poster
exceptionally is attractive acceptably is messy
attractive in in terms of attractively. with poor
terms of design, lay- design.
design, lay-out out and
and neatness. neatness.
Content There are no There is one There are There are
Accuracy grammatical or grammatical two more than
mechanical or grammatical two
mistakes. mechanical or grammatical
mistake. mechanical or
mistakes. mechanical
mistakes.
Total

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 Let Us Reflect

➢ Culture represents everything that

an individuals or groups have, while
society represents the individuals or
groups who shares them. It is what
make each society different from
one another.

➢ Culture is complex and there are three major theoretical perspectives or

approaches towards understanding culture. Functionalist views culture as a
system that fulfills the society’s needs. Conflict views culture as inherently
unequal based from the factors like age, gender, and race. Interactionist
believes that culture is the result of the daily interactions of individuals.

➢ There are two interrelated components of culture. These are the material and
no-material culture. The non-material culture shaped the thoughts, feelings,
and behavior of the individuals or groups in a society. The knowledge of
these elements helps in understanding culture holistically.

➢ Globalization and innovations caused rapid cultural transformation all over

the world.

➢ The lack of cultural understanding leads to ethnocentrism. An attitude of

looking at a situation from the perspective of his/her own culture. It is a
belief of the superiority of one’s culture. In contrast of ethnocentrism is
cultural relativism. Cultural relativism is a principle that an individual or
society’s belief or practice should be understood in terms of that individual
or society’s culture.

➢ Cultural heritage is the tangible and intangible culture like beliefs, customs,
and traditions, and all evidence of creativity and expression like paintings,
music, dances, and architectures. The Republic Act 10066 is created to
protect and preserve the Filipino cultural heritage.

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 20
II. Multiple Choice I. Modified True or False
1. C 1. Not only
2. C 2. Non -material
3. D 3. True
4. B. 4. True
5. C 5. True
6. B 6. Acculturation
7. Norms
8. Ethnocentrism
9. True
10. True
Answer Key
 References

Abulencia, A.S. et.al. (2017). Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences.
Department of Education, Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education (2016). Understanding Culture and Society. Department of

Education, Republic of the Philippines

De Guzman, J.M. et.al. (2016). Understanding Culture, Society and Politics for
Senior High School. Mutya Publishing House, Inc. (What is Culture? n.d.)

Lumen Learning. Theorethical Perspective on Culture. Retrieved

fromhttp://courses.lumenlearning.com/sociology/chapter/theorethical-
perspective

Goodread’s Quotes. Retrieved from:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes4114218.C_Joybell_C

Cultural Heritage Society. But What is Heritage. Retrieved from

https://www.heritage.org.ph

What is Culture? (n.d.). Retrieved 6 25, 2020, from

http://www.livescience.com/21478-what-is-culture-definition-of-
culture.html

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For inquiries or feedback, please write or call:

Department of Education – Davao City Division

Elpidio Quirino Ave., Poblacion District, Davao City, 8000 Davao del Sur

Telefax: (082) 224-3274, (082) 222-1672

E-mail Address: davao.city@deped.gov.ph

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