CULTURE

What is Culture?
 It refers to the attitude, values, customs and behavior patterns that characterized a social group.

These People also provide their own Meaning about Culture:

Calhoun, et al. (1994)

 Culture is the learned norms, values, knowledge, artifacts, language that are constantly communicated
among people who share a common way of life.
Allan Johnson (1996)
 Culture is the sum total of symbols, ideas, forms of expressions and material products associated with a
collective way of life.
E.B Taylor
 Culture as that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom or
capabilities and habits that a man acquired as a member of society.
Leslie A. White
 Culture means the entire way of life of people and everything learned and shared by people in society.
 Patterns of Behavior
 Things , Beliefs and Knowledge
 Attitudes and Values
Hofstede (1997)
 Culture is consisting of pattern, explicit and implicit of, and for behavior acquired transmitted by
symbols. It includes Cumulative such as:
 knowledge  Meaning
 Experience  Religion
 Beliefs  Rules
 Values  Possessions
 Attitudes

“The School as Communities Framework”

 Dewitt et, al. (2003) Discussed "What role foes the culture of a school play in student's experience
and performance and what factors promotes a student's sense of belongingness?
According to the framework:
 The school is “communities"  Support to one another
 Students are unlikely to experience  Have a voice
academic or behavioral problems if they are  Sense of membership
exposed to the following:  Communal Acceptance
 Teachers and students respect trust  Belongingness and attachment
Factors Promotes Belongingness:
 Equality
 Fairness
 Shared Beliefs and Values
 Caring attitudes among others.
CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE

1. CULTURE IS LEARNED
 First essential characteristic of culture that is learned.
 Behavioral Pattern.
2. CULTURE IS SHARED BY A GROUP OF PEOPLE
 It must be commonly shared by some population or group of individuals to be considered cultural.
3. CULTURE IS CUMULATIVE
 Knowledge is stored and passed on from one generation to another.
4. CULTURE CHANGE
 Now cultural traits are added, some old ones are lost because they are no longer useful.
5. CULTURE IS DYNAMIC
 It's not permanent
 Constantly Changing
 New ideas and techniques are added and old ways are constantly modified and discarded.
 Diffusion (The Spreading of Traits)
6. CULTURE IS IDEATIONAL
 It is an ideal pattern of behavior which the members are expected to follow.
7. CULTURE IS DIVERSE
 It has great many separate cultures.
 Culture as a whole with many mutually interdependent parts.
 Ex. The choices of marriage partners it involves religion, economic class and culture.
8. CULTURE GIVES US A RANGE OF PERMISSIBLE BEHAVIOR PATTERNS
 Every culture allows a range of ways in which men can be men and women can be women
 We are molded and shaped by culture.
 Whatever desired we want, it gives us opportunity to choose.

COMPONENTS OF CULTURE (ROLLINGS, 2005)

COMMUNICATION COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL MATERIAL

LANGUAGE IDEAS NORMS TOOL

SYMBOLS KNOWLEDGE MORES MEDICINE

BELIEFS LAWS TRANSPORTATION

ACCOUNTS FOLKWAYS BOOKS

RITUALS TECHNOLOGIES