UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY, AND POLITICS

2nd Quarter, 1st Semester

MODULE 1 – State and Non-State Institution

POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS, STATE INSTITUTIONS

Certain organizations help keep these basic institutions in place. Politically, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) helps the government
maintain peace and order throughout its territory. The Local Government Units (LGU) is created to cater the needs of the local barangays or communities.
The Department of Education (DepEd) ensures the quality of education based on the needs and norms the society. The different branches of the government
create, implement, and interpret the laws we use as guide for our conduct. These organized, political bodies are called state institutions. Government-
controlled state institutions fulfil the wishes of the Philippine State: public service and public control. For example, the government may declare martial law
in a troubled area, and the AFP makes sure that this is strictly followed, whether the people like it or not (De Leon 2008).

NON-STATE INSTITUTIONS
Ideally, in a democratic country, major industries must be under the control of the state, like banks, petroleum, transportation, and communication
because they are vital in the economy of the country. However, in the recent years, the said industries are being sold to private entities to carry away the
burden from its operation and maintenance. Today, private corporations headed by executives controls the major industries in the country with very
minimum government supervision, most of these are petroleum (Shell, Caltex and Petron), telecommunication (Smart, Globe and PLDT), transportation
(Cebu Pacific and Philippine Air Lines), etc. These entities significantly affect the lives of the people either directly or indirectly (Baleña 2016).

Non-state institutions
1. Banks help us keep our money, avail different kinds of loan, and exchange currencies. The accumulated money of the bank is invested to some projects
to gain profit; this is how banks pay their workers and depositors’ interest depending on the agreed terms .

Moreover, banks help the country by providing financial assistance to those entrepreneurs who wanted to create or expand their business. By doing so,
they also provide job opportunities among local citizens.
2. A corporation is owned by a group of people, but has a separate legal identity (the owners of a corporation are not responsible for its own debts).
Corporations offer stocks (determines level of ownership), as well as bonds (allows one to earn interest). These generate large amounts of capital, which
is needed for growth (Contreras et al. 2016). Some well-known corporations are San Miguel Corporation, Accenture, and Shell.
3. Trade unions. There are some entrepreneurs who are only after for profit, and they tend to maximize working hours and minimize wages as much as
possible. This is where the trade union steps in. They look after the well-being 12 of the workers. Collectively, they raise issues such as low salary, lack of
compensation, etc. to the management that sometimes ends up with work “stoppage” or strike until the demands of both sides are met. (Contreras et
al. 2016). Trade unions are created to protect the labor force of the country. Workers are essential to the creation of goods and services for the
citizenry. In the Philippines, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines has the largest membership.
4. Development agencies promote progress by engaging in projects, policymaking, and dialogue (Contreras et al. 2016). Some countries with active
agencies in the Philippines are Japan (JICA), Canada (CIDA), and U.S.A. (USAID). Those providing financial assistance include the Asian Development Bank
(ADB). Development agencies works as a bank that provides financial assistance to important projects. The creation of bridge that connects one
province to another, or road construction that helps ordinary farmers transport their products may be put into reality through the help of these
agencies.
5. Civil organizations include academic institutions, research teams, mass media, religious organizations, and people’s organizations. They provide facts
about the life’s various realities to influence policy-making (Contreras et al. 2016). These organizations are created to expose the conditions of the
marginalized sector of the society by using mass media as its platform as they raise critical issues to the government.
6. Cooperatives are made up of people with common interest who agreed to work together for easy, safe, and affordable access to commodities, loans,
and other services. They are created to help and empower one another with a minimum help from the government (Contreras et al. 2016). Farmers’
cooperatives and teachers’ cooperatives are common examples.
7. Transnational advocacy groups influence the government to take action on matters commonly neglected. A group maybe a national or an international
organization that promotes and advocates progress and development related to particular issues of the society. (Contreras, et al., 2016). Greenpeace
and Human Rights Watch are some examples.
 UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY, AND POLITICS
2nd Quarter, 1st Semester
MODULE 2 – Functions and Importance of Education

The Meaning of Education, Types, Functions and its Importance

The Meaning of Education

Education {ej-oo-key-shuhn], the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment,
and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/education). However, education, as a social
institution has a different meaning. Dr. William Little (2014) held that education is a social institution through which a society’s children are taught basic
academic knowledge, learning skills, and cultural norms.
Furthermore, the word education is derived from the Latin word “educare” which means “to train”, “to rear or bring-up (a child)”. Hence, it plays a
significant role in transferring culture and social norms among members of society, in the process of training and various modalities of educating. It enables
individual to flourish their personality to withstand the culture and social systems. It will always remain as an essential support pillar in our society.
The System of Education in the Philippines

There are two types of education in the Philippines: the formal and the nonformal. Formal education refers to the standardized method of hierarchically
structured and progressive schooling that corresponds to the general notion of elementary and secondary and tertiary level of education. Yet, only the
primary and secondary level is compulsory to the students.
In the educational system of the Philippines, the elementary and secondary level is administered and supervised by the Department of Education.
Elementary level is composed of kindergarten and six (6) years of primary education. Whereas, the secondary contains four (4) years of junior high school
and two (2) years of senior 8 high school. Furthermore, the tertiary level is administered and supervised by the Commission on Higher Education. The actual
years spent in this level depends on the curriculum of each course.
Nonetheless, the nonformal education refers to an educational activity carried outside the structure of a formal education. According to UNESCO,
non-formal education can cover programmes contributing to adult and youth literacy and education for out-of-school children, as well as programmes on life
skills, work skills, and social or cultural development. Thus, this type of education is basically flexible, learner-centered, contextualized and requires learners
to participate in every activity. Also, the age of learners in this category is not a necessity. One example is the Alternative Learning System or ALS overseen by
the Department of Education. ALS Non-formal Education happens outside the classroom, community-based, usually conducted at community learning
centers, barangay multi-purpose hall, libraries or at home, managed by ALS learning facilitators, such as mobile teachers, district ALS Coordinators,
instructional managers at an agreed schedule and venue between the learners and facilitators.

The Functions of Education and its Importance

Education has different functions. This consists of socialization, transmission of culture, social integration social placement, and social and cultural
innovation and/or preservation.
a) Socialization. Socialization is an essential ingredient in creating a society. Since school is an agent of socialization, thus, education helps transform
human in becoming literate and recognize its function in the society. Through education as a means of socialization, we also learn social norms,
values and culture that are fortified by our teachers, our textbooks, and our classmates as well.
b) Transmission of Culture. Through socialization in school (teachers to learners, and learner to learner), the transmission of culture is at the highest
possible. Through education, human learn the values, beliefs, and social norms of their culture.
c) Social Integration. As the saying goes “nations are built because of education”, this is because education portrays an important role to unify
individuals by teaching the common values and social norms.
d) Social Placement. It could be a cliché that “all other professions rooted from teachers” though, it is indeed the reality. Education provides a social
placement for everyone. It prepares us for the later station of our lives, and, to buy the necessities of life. Now, this makes sense to “productive
citizenry” and “selfactualization”

Legal Provisions of Education: Education as a Human Right

It is stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the UN website:

Article 26:
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be
compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the
basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of
the United Nations for the maintenance of peace
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
In the 1987 Philippine Constitution, Article 14:
Section 1: The State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels, and shall take appropriate steps to make such
education accessible to all.
Section 2, Paragraph 2: The state shall establish and maintain a system of free public education in the elementary and high school levels. Without limiting the
natural right of parents to rear their children, elementary education is compulsory for all children of school age;
The right to education is fundamental. It is non-discriminatory. Everyone has the right to education regardless of race, ethnicity, social origin,
gender, political preferences or disability. It is also a vital human right in exercising all the other human rights.
 UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY, AND POLITICS
2nd Quarter, 1st Semester
MODULE 3 – Concepts, Characteristics and Forms of Stratification Systems

CONCEPT OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

The idea of rich and the poor may be too familiar to everyone. It can be seen in Pinoy teleseryes or Korean dramas that you watched back then,
and it can be seen in reality just like in the society where you are belong. The activities that you encountered a while ago introduced you to the new lesson
which is about categorizing individuals or group of people based on factors such as power, wealth and prestige. This is called Social Classes and the layering
of these social classes from higher to lower class is called Social Stratification. Social stratification is defined as the hierarchical arrangement and
establishment of social categories that may evolve into social groups together with statuses and their corresponding roles in the society (Cordero-McDonald,
et al., 1995, 380).

Three Social Classes

 Upper Class – At the tp of the pyramid. This class in the society is described by the sociologists as elite
individuals or group of people that are most prolific and successful in their respective areas. These
people may be stockholders and investors in very huge well-known companies from different
industries here and abroad. In the second activity earlier, Henry Sy, Sr. and Lucio Tan, Sr. are both
considered elite who belong to the upper class of social stratification. According to the “List of 50
richest Filipinos in 2014” of Pinoy Money Talk website (as cited by Lanuza and Raymundo 2016, 109),
Henry Sy, Sr. and his family had a net worth of $12.7 billion, while Lucio Tan, Sr. and his family had a net worth of $6.1 billion. These
people may own big companies and huge mansions here and abroad, mingle with the same class, own fancy cars, and value wealthy
heritage.
 Middle Class - mostly professional individuals or groups of people like lawyers, doctors, managers, owners of small businesses in the
locality, and executives who work in the corporate world, etc. They are able to meet both their needs and wants without even worrying
about their finances because of the job and salary they have.
 Lower Class - These are the skilled and unskilled artisan, farm employees, underemployed, and indigent families. Because of the given
status in life, these people lack revenue or income and educational training or background. Without the proper education, some of them
are jobless or have difficulty to find a job in order to make ends meet. They also lack support network that could lift them up.

CHARACTERISTICS OF STRATIFICATION SYSTEMS

1. Universal but variable. Social stratification is what we are talking about when we talk about
social inequality and social mobility. Society categorizes people and ranks them in a hierarchy.
Everything, from social status, prestige, to the kind of job one holds, or to the chances of living in
poverty, is affected by social stratification.
2. Not a matter of individual differences. People are obviously different from each other, so we
might assume that stratification is just a kind of natural outcome of differences, but in reality, it is
not. We know we can see the effects of social stratification on people regardless of their personal choices or traits. For example, children of
wealthy families are more likely to live longer and be healthier, to attend college, and to excel in school as compared to children born into
poverty. Moreover, they are more likely to be wealthy themselves when they grow up.
3. Persists across generations. Stratification serves to categorize and rank members of society across generations, resulting in different life
chances. Yet generally, society allows some degree of social mobility, or changes in the position within the social hierarchy. People sometimes
move upward or downward in social class, which is the basic concept of social mobility.
4. A social beliefs. A society’s cultural beliefs tell us how to categorize people, and they define inequalities of a stratification system as being
normal, or even fair. If people don’t believe that the system is right, it won’t last. Beliefs are what make systems of social stratification work
and it is through these beliefs about social stratification that inform what it means to deserve wealth, success, or power .
FORMS OF STRATIFICATION SYSTEMS
1. CLOSE SYSTEM OF STRATIFICATION

India’s Caste System is probably one of the best-known forms of close system of stratification. While it is a social
system of decreasing importance, it still holds in parts of rural India, and has a strong legacy across the country. The
traditional caste system contains four large divisions called Varnas. It consists of Brahmin, or priests and academics in
their native language, as placed at the top of the hierarchy; followed by Khsatriya or the rulers (kings), warriors, and
administrators; then Vaishya or merchants and landowners; and last is the Shudra or the commoners, peasants and
servants.

The system required endogamy - marriage within your own caste category. In everyday life, the caste system determines whom one could interact
with, and how, with systems of social control, contact between lower and higher castes is restricted. This whole system is based on a set of strong
cultural and religious beliefs that living within your own category is a moral and spiritual duty - the reason why gods are on the top of the pyramid
because caste system is governed by religious beliefs of Hinduism.

2. OPEN SYSTEM OF STRATIFICATION

Class System is one of the best examples of open system of stratification and is not based solely on ascribed status at birth alone. Instead, it combines
ascribed status and personal achievement or achieved status in a way that allows some social mobility. Statuses are not the same. We get different
statuses in different ways and chances. Some are ascribed statuses, which are assigned or given by the society or group based on some fixed category,
without regard to a person’s abilities or performance. Examples of ascribed status are sex, family background, race, and ethnic heritage or wealth. A
 person did nothing to earn these statuses, nor has control over these characteristics and had no opportunity or chance to choose family, sex, and race.
On the other hand, achieved statuses are earned by the individual. Philippine system of stratification has elements of meritocracy: a system in which
social mobility is based on personal merit and individual talents. Every Filipino’s dream is that anyone, no matter how poor, can “pull himself/herself up”
and become upwardly class mobile through hard work and perseverance.

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION IN SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

1. FUNCTIONALISM. At the beginning, we may think of social stratification as merely only creating social inequality among groups of people. In some
aspects of social life, it is true. But social inequality brought by social stratification base from wealth, prestige, and power of social groups, is indeed
functional in the society according to Functionalist Theory.
2. CONFLICT THEORY. This sociological perspective is the opposite of the latter. Karl Marx viewed social stratification as creation of inequality
between the rich and the poor, or the powerful versus the powerless. Let’s say for example: The bourgeois capitalists owning high-producing
businesses or factories and hire people who work for them. They can enjoy the luxury of life because they earn billions of money. However,
proletariats are the working class earned skimpy wages and experiencing isolation to the society. The very essence of life is to enjoy it with loved
ones. However, working class did not experience this joy because they are isolated to do the labor for long hours each day to earn money at the
end of the month. Marx argued that proletariats were oppressed by the money-hungry bourgeois.
3. SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM. Symbolic interactionism view social stratification on a micro level where individuals affect others whom they have
interacted because of their social class status. In most societies, people can only interact only to those with the same social class status. For an
instance, it is rare for a royal prince or princess to marry a commoner because the commoner don’t have the same class status as to royal prince or
princess. But now, there are royal marriages already break this tradition.