ANTHROPOLOGICAL FOUNDATION OF EDUCATION:

CULTURE

BY: Edalyn T. Masing

How can a man be
considered
“CULTURED”
CHARACTERISTICS
OF CULTURE
 Culture is
learned Culture is
shared

Culture is
dynamic
Characteristics
of Culture

Culture is
Culture is based on
integrated symbols
Culture is learned
Culture is shared
Culture is based on symbols
Culture is integrated
Culture is dynamic
CULTURE AND ADAPTATION

Biological adaptation in humans is important but

humans have increasingly come to rely upon
cultural adaptation. However, not all adaptation is
good, and not all cultural practices are adaptive.
Some features of a culture may be maladaptive,
such as fast food, pollution, nuclear waste and
climate change. However, because culture is
adaptive and dynamic, once we recognize
problems, culture can adapt again, in a more
positive way, to find solutions.
What does culture have
to do with
EDUCATION?
It provides behavioral patterns.
It maintains the biological functioning
of the group
It gives meaning and direction to one’s
existence
It serves as means of communication
It develops man’s attitude and values
that gives him a conscience
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS

Cultures differ and one should not judge

another culture by using his own culture as
basis
To avoid prejudices, there should be more
contact between cultures
Travel, education, and reading about
other societies are ways of bringing about
tolerance and understanding between
nations
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS

With more diffusion between cultures,

one global society may result
Society can be improved by
improving the culture
Since culture is made by man himself,
he should develop worthwhile values
and work out those beliefs
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS

Since cultured is learned, the school should

inculcate in the young the good aspects of
culture
Since the culture changes, the change
should be for the better and society should
decide what those changes should be
The home, the school, and the church,
should guard against borrowing from other
cultures things that are against the Philippine
way of life
 “Culture is the center of a
society and without culture
no society can even exist.
Man is born in the
environment of culture, in
which he seeks his way of
behaving and acting in a
given society.”
THANK YOU!

GOD BLESS!
THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE:

 One of the earliest definitions of culture was put forth by Tylor in 1871: “Culture, or civilization, is that
complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities
and habits acquired by man as a member of society.”
 Another, more modern, definition of culture is, “a society’s shared and socially transmitted ideas, values
and perceptions, which are used to make sense of experience and generate behavior and are
reflected in that behavior.”
 Culture is universal among all human groups and even exists among some primates.
 All cultures have to provide for the physical, emotional, and social needs of their
members, enculturate new members, resolve conflicts and promote survival for their members.
 Society must balance the needs of the whole with the needs of the individual. If individual needs are
continually suppressed, social systems can become unstable and individual stress can become too
much to handle. Every culture has its own methods of balancing the needs of society in relation to
individual needs.
 Subcultures are groups with distinct patterns of learned and shared behavior (ethnicities, races, genders,
age categories) within a larger culture. Despite these distinctive traits, members of subcultures still share
commonalities with the larger society. Subcultures exist in most state level systems because those systems
are pluralistic, they encompass more than one ethnic group or culture.