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Department of EducationBureau of Learning DeliveryTeaching and Learning DivisionGrade Level: Grade 12 Supplementary Learning Materials (SLM)for Senior High SchoolCore Subject: Understanding Cultures, Society and PoliticsSemester: 1 st SemesterTRY THIS!Matching TypeDirection: Examine the two sets of ...

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Department of Education Bureau of Learning Delivery Teaching and Learning Division

Grade Level: Grade 12 Supplementary Learning Materials (SLM) for Senior High School Core Subject: Understanding Cultures, Society and Politics Semester: 1st Semester

UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY AND POLITICS

INTRODUCTION In this module aids you in understanding the variations of human attributes. Although we all belong to just one species, you may have noticed that we have different physical characteristics, behavioral patterns, and languages. You will learn through this module that human identities are constructed by their affiliation and their negotiation with established structures and system in society. Society in its broader sense involves social (i.e., actions and interactions), cultural (i.e., practices and traditions) and political (i.e., power relations) realities. As formal and systematic studies of society, these three facets are referred to as the “social sciences”, also known as “disciplines”. These disciplines may be likened to a lens, which changes the way the wearer sees things in terms of color, focus, and details. In other words, they change a person’s perspective.

TRY THIS! Matching Type

Direction: Examine the two sets of words/concepts below. Match each word/concept in set A with a word/concept in set B by connecting their respective dots with a line. A sociological imagination social map traditions power relations social forces social sciences connecting personal life with history

B • • • • • • •

• • • • • • •

the search for the social Political Science Sociology social lens Anthropology perspective social location

QUARTER 1 Week 1

Content Standards: The learners demonstrate an understanding of human cultural variation, social differences, social change, and political identities. Performance Standards: The learners acknowledge human cultural variation, social differences, social change, and political identities. Most Essential Learning Competencies: Discuss the nature, goals and perspectives in/of anthropology, sociology and political science. At the end of this module, I can: 1. Articulate observations on human cultural variation, social differences, social change, and political identities through an introspective learning activity. 2. Demonstrate curiosity and an openness to explore the origins and dynamics of culture and society and political identities. 3. Analyze social, political and cultural change

DISCUSSION: Human Cultural Variation  refers to the differences in social behaviors that different cultures exhibit around the world. What may be considered good etiquette in one culture may be considered bad etiquette in another. Example: Comparing the traditions crafted by the Eskimos of Alaska with those of the Maasais of Kenya, you can see the stark difference in their types of clothing, which are highly functional for the type of climate and environment that they live in. The Eskimos, who live in frigid areas of Alaska, wear thick layers of garment made of animal fur, whereas the Maasais wear loose, singlelayer clothes made of cotton, which are meant to make them comfortable despite the hot climate of the grasslands of Africa.

Cultural Variation -

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the variation in human conditions promotes diversity and plurality in cultural traditions. This could lead to discrimination and ostracism. Ethnocentrism is a perspective that promotes an individual’s culture as the most efficient and superior; hence, the individual who exhibits ethnocentrism feels that his or her culture is the most appropriate as compared with other cultures. This may also manifest in a belief that one’s set of moral codes is better than those of others, such that one’s religion is accepted as a truer form of belief system. This perspective evaluates a particular culture based on the observer’s understanding of the other, which is often problematic, given the bias of the observer due to his or her own culture’s preconditioning. Cultural Relativism o which promotes the perspective that cultures must be understood in the context of their locality. o using this perspective makes you tolerant of the differing attitudes and practices of others – a characteristic that is essential to a highly globalized world that we live in.

 Religion – is a system of beliefs and practices as well as systems of actions directed toward entities which are above men. Is an organized system of ideas about the spiritual sphere or the supernatural.

 Ethnicity – it is the expression of the set of cultural ideas held by a distinct ethics or indigenous group. Examples of Ethnic Groups in the Philippines  Aeta  Lumad  Igorot  Sama-Bajau  Maranao  Mangyan  Bicolano  Visayan  Tagbanwa  Tagalog

 Subanon  Ibaloi  Blaan  Nationality – it is the legal relationship that binds a person and a country. It allows the state to protect and have jurisdiction over a person.

Social Differences  the differences among the individuals on the basis of social characteristics and qualities. Gender  it is the socially-constructed characteristics of being male or female.  Serve as guide on how males and females think and act about themselves.  Gender vs Sex  LGBTQi (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex)

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GENDER One’s sense of self as masculine or feminine regardless of external genitalia. Socially constructed characteristics Personality characteristics

VS

SEX - It is biological - It refers to a person based on their anatomy - Bodies

There are several types of gender based on a person’s orientation. Depending on the community, these gender identities can be further subdivided into more specific categories. o Heterosexual – a person with this gender is inclined to be sexually attracted to a person of the opposite sex. o Homosexual – a person is sexually attracted to a person of the same sex. o Asexual – a person who are totally incapable of being attracted to any sex. o Polysexual – individuals who are attracted to multiple types of gender. o Pansexual – who accommodate all types of gender. LGBTQi 

Lesbian – a woman who is emotionally, romantically, or sexually attracted to other women.

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Gay – men attracted emotionally, romantically, and/or sexually to men. Bisexual – a person who is attracted to two sexes or two genders, but not necessarily simultaneously or equally. Transgender – people are those whose psychological self (gender identity) differs from the social expectations for the physical sex they were born with. Queer/Questioning – a person who is attracted to multiple genders Intersex – intersexuality is a set of medical conditions that feature congenital anomaly of the reproductive and sexual system.

Socio-Economic Status In the Philippines, our indicators of social class are different, given the economic and political context in which our country is in. Although government surveys take into account the factors enumerated earlier such as income and value of assets, Filipino often describe their social class in personalized contexts. Hence, when you ask a Filipino what his or her social class is, the response can be any of the following: mahirap, medyo mayaman, sakto lang, mayaman, and the like.

Exceptionality o o o o o o

It refers to the state of being intellectually gifted and/or having physically or mentally challenged conditions. Personality / behavior Communication (learning disability, speech impairment, and hearing problems) Intellect (mild intellectual & mental development disabilities) Physical appearance (blind-low vision) Or combination of more than one specific exceptionality/disability.

Political Identity  refers to the set of attitudes and practices that an individual adheres to in relation to the political systems and actors within his or her society. Political parties in the Philippines such as Ang Ladlad, a party that negotiates for the welfare of the LGBTQi community, and Kabataan, a party that promotes youth empowerment, are examples of how sectors in our society use their identities as political vehicles to negotiate their needs. Religion can also offer political identity to its followers. Members of the religious group Iglesia ni Cristo promote the practice of block voting, a church-based exercise of one’s right to suffrage wherein the ministers and the members agree to unanimously vote for a chosen candidate or political party lineup. Social Change  refers to an alteration in the social order of a society. Social Changes may include changes in nature, social institutions, social behaviors, or social relations.  Occurs as human populations adapt to their dynamic surroundings.  Factors that trigger social change include technology and globalization. Cultural Change  The term that deals with the evolution of cultural component.  Modification of a society through innovation, invention, discovery, or contact with other invention, discovery, or contact with other societies. Sources of Change o Innovation – social creation and institutionalization of new ideas. o Diffusion – spread of innovation from one social group to another. o Assimilation – process where some of the “majority community’s cultural aspects are absorbed in such manner that the home cultural manner gets mitigated or lost. o Social Contradictions and Tensions – inter-ethnic conflicts, struggles, protests, social issues. Some of Socio Cultural Changes in the Philippines  Changes in Politics  Changes in Job Opportunities  Changes in the Pattern of Infrastructure  Changes in Marriage Patterns  Changes in Social Get Together  Changes in Health Awareness  Changes in Eating Habits  Changes in Technology

Directions: 1. Get one whole sheet of paper and draw figure 1 below. 2. Make 5 copies and distribute the 4 copies to your neighborhood friends and instruct

them the directions. a. Write your name inside the circle b. Write the following information of yourself in the 4 spaces: - gender - socio-economic class - ethnicity - religion

Figure 1

# 2: Directions: Consolidate your answer and their answers on a table similar to what is shown below.

Directions: Based on the output from the previous activity, you have to answer the following questions: 1. What are the similarities and differences of every individual? 2. Do these similarities and differences affect the life of the whole community? Why?

CULTURE, SOCIETY AND POLITICS AS CONCEPTUAL TOOLS

Culture, society and politics are concepts. They exist in the realm of ideas and thoughts. As such, they cannot be seen or touched and yet they influence the way we see and experience our individual and collective lives as social beings. Concepts are created and have been used to have a firm grip of phenomenon. Pierce describes a concept as “the rational purport of a word or a conception.” This simply suggests that turning a phenomenon into a concepts means, for one thing, to make it more rational. Instead of using a word or less automatically, an attempt is now made to scrutinize it and try to decide what is essential to it. One way to create a concept is by definition. Hence here, the notion of a concept is very much related to that of a definition. Just like any other words, concepts are initially invented as icons to capture (or represent) phenomena and in the process assist their users/investors ‘to describe’ facets of social experience in relation to the phenomena concerned. As their sharpness as icons became indubitably useful and practical, they began to be used as a tool to explore not only social experiences and phenomena, their “organizing effects’ in making sense of social realities altogether. What is interesting about concepts is that as conceptual tools, they allow us to form other concepts, or relate concepts to each other, or even deconstruct old ones and replace them with something new. This is perhaps the reason why Weber admitted that concept is one of the great tools of all scientific knowledge. As a heuristic tool (i.e., simplifying tool), concepts allow the discovery of new aspects of a phenomenon. In this case, a concept can be conceived more as a ‘means’ rather than as an ‘end’. Culture is a perfect example. With the concept of culture, anthropologists are able to explore and make sense of the complex processes and dynamics that characterize the great variety of “ways of living” practiced and observed around the world. By simplifying such complex diversities into a handy word, they are able to grasp other issues such as values, belief systems, socialization, and a host of other concepts. In the same way, society as a concept has been exploited by sociologists to explain the oftentimes confusing matrices of social interactions.

The way we live our lives – or should we way, the way we are being steered to live our lives – presupposes omnipotent forces shaping the very fabric of our existence. The categories that we possess as individuals – labels that are ascribed or given to us individually and collectively – are a testament to the operation of these forces which leave us unsuspecting of their intrusive and punitive implications in our lives. Our categories as male/female, rich/poor. Or tall/short, and even the problematic effect of the color of our skin are evidences of the operation of these social forces. In other words, our sociality is defined by the very categories that we possess, the categories assigned to us by society at large. These ‘labels’, so to speak, function as tags with which our society read our worth and value. Surprisingly, these categories that we possess are not natural; rather, they are socially constructed. Our genders, for example, mirror the way our culture ‘reads’ us as member of society. Of all the social labels attached to members of society, gender appears to be the most fundamental, intrusive, and limiting. The personal traits and social positions that members of a society attach to being male or female reflect this insight. Even before we see the first light of day, our world is already being organized by society: as boys or girls, we have been assigned appropriate colors, toys, clothes, mannerisms. Etiquette, careers to pursue, and choice of mate. In short, the totality of our sociality have already been constructed for us.

Observing them, we cannot help but ask:  Why do people do such thing?  What makes it normal and acceptable to some people in some places and unacceptable to others in other places? These questions are triggered by our habit of looking at other people’s worlds as we look at our own. In order to explore the issue further, consider the following situations in the table below.

Situation 1. Gary graduated a year ago. Despite being blessed with several job offers, he chose to remain jobless and hang around with his barkada. Together they to istambay in the town plaza especially at night. 2. As a businessman, Mang Leo is used to giving “padulas” (or lagay) to his main suppliers in order to expedite his business transactions with them. 3. Members of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church are strongly prohibited from eating pork and food with blood, as well as from smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages. 4. Darius is openly gay. He lives with his partner Garner. He and Garner are both college professors in the local city college. 5. If grades were to be the basis of Rusty’s standing in his economics class, he would surely fail the course. However, he was given a passing grade by his economics teacher, who happened to be a childhood friend of his mother.

Behavior and Phenomena

istambay

lagay

food taboos

Same-sex partnership

use of a go-between/padrino

 Situation 1:

Is a behavioral example. Istambay is a usual scene in the streets of Manila and elsewhere in the urban areas in the country. It is a behavioral feature of most young people who feel that the company of other young people is more meaningful and exciting than staying at home or reading books.  Situation 2 &5: They are about a set of practices. Situation 2 is about bribing, while Situation 5 is about the use of an influential mediator. In both cases, undue influences either through money or connections is being exerted to achieve certain ends or pursue a specific agenda.  Situation 3: Is related to a group-based practice made possible and stronger by a set of beliefs revolving around the nexus of health and religion.  Situation 4: Is about a form of lifestyle associated with a specific sexual preference and romantic arrangement.

SOCIAL DYNAMICS: SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND CULTURAL CHANGE With the uprise and advent of innovation towards our society, the political and cultural society are the considered as primary examples from it. People are gaining knowledge by the second as of now they perceive the values and beliefs to which it also contributes the culture and political change in our society....