LEARNER’S PACKET (LeaP)

Student
Section:
Name:
Subject Learning Area UCSP

12
Adviser:
Teacher: Quarter FIRST QUARTER Week No. 3
Learning Days Tuesday, Thursday, Friday Date Covered Sept. 27-Oct.1, 2021
I. LESSON TITTLE Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentrism
1. Describe your own culture and compare it to the culture of others;
II. MOST ESSENTIAL
2. Determine the difference between ethnocentrism and cultural relativism;
LEARNING
3. Shows the ill effects of ethnocentrism; and
COMPETENCIES (MELCs)
4. Become aware why and how cultural relativism mitigates ethnocentrism.
III. CORE CONTENT Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentrism
IV. LEARNING PHASES AND LEARNING ACTIVITITES
I. Introduction
Am I Different?
Direction: Fill in “‘Me’ and My Culture” table by describing how you behave and practice your own culture under
similar circumstances.
“Them” and their culture “Me” and my Culture
Hand Gestures Hand gestures

The V- hand gesture is an offensive sign in United

Kingdom, Australia, and South Africa. In Japan, China,
and South Korea, using this symbol with the palm facing
the person means he/she is looking cute in picture.

Table Manners Table Manners

Europeans and Americans use spoon and fork in eating,

while Chinese and Koreans use chopsticks.

Religion Religion

Individuals practicing Hinduism believe in millions of gods

and goddesses. All are responsible for governing their lives,
destiny, and fate.

Marriage Marriage

A man can have multiple wives. He can share his wife to

his brothers and visitors as a sign of hospitality. (Eskimos)

Reading text Reading Text

Hebrew and Arabic books are read from right to left.

D. Development
In this part of your journey, we provide something for you to deepen your understanding about culture.
Please continue reading with comprehension as you discover further knowledge that will help you out in your quest on
the remaining phases of this lesson.
What is Ethnocentrism?
1 | PEthnocentrism
age is a belief that one’s own culture is better than others. They tend to compare, evaluate, and even judge
other people’s ways based on the values and standards set in one’s own culture. Their worldview is based on the beliefs,
assumptions, expectations, and values shaped by one’s language, behavior, customs, values, religions and other aspects.
 Due to ethnocentric beliefs, many people are blinded from seeing things in another perspective. Ethnocentric people
tend to dislike or make false judgment on other cultures. They tend becoming biased and judge another culture as bad
and wrong.
Even though we deny it, most of us are ethnocentric at some point in our lives. Some do not even realize that they are
being ethnocentric at that moment. Below are some of the examples of ethnocentrism:
a. The American society sees themselves as a world leader. As a result, they interfere in the political affairs of other
countries and try to control them, leading to misunderstanding and miscommunication amongst nations which
sometimes result to war.
b. During the time of Adolf Hitler, Germans believed that they are a superior race. This led to the death of 6 million
Jews whom they considered as an inferior race.
c. European countries go beyond their ethnocentric biases and saw non-European cultures as uncivilized and
underdeveloped countries of savages and barbarians. They used this perspective to justify colonialism and
imperialism.
d. Cases of hate crimes and terrorism violence can usually be traced back to religious conflicts and
misunderstandings.

Cultural Relativism as the Opposite View

Cultural relativism is a belief that cultures are equally complex. There is no such thing as superior or inferior culture.
Cultural relativism is very important in studying the culture of other people. It is a way of viewing the beliefs, values, and
practices of a culture from its own viewpoint. Another way to say this is that others should understand an individual’s beliefs
and activities in terms of that person’s own culture.
• Cultural relativism promotes greater appreciation of the cultures that an individual might encounter along the
way.
• Cultural relativism is a good way to rehearse the norms and values of a society –-- a requirement that one must
subscribe to, regardless of his/her cultural origin.
• It means that the function and meaning of a trait are relative to its cultural setting.
To understand better the main difference between ethnocentrism and cultural relativism, an illustration was provided
below:

E. Engagement

Case Study About Culture

People tend to be more tolerant of another culture’s customs when they understand and learn the meaning behind
them. In order to understand an unfamiliar culture, social scientists conduct researches. The best way to do this study is to
experience that culture by living with people practicing it. Additionally, this experience should be done for a long period.

In this activity, you will be asked to conduct a simple case study examining the culture of other people that is somehow
different from yours. If you are an Ilocano, the subject of your study could be people who identify themselves as Tagalog,
Bisaya, Bicolano, or other ethnicity. If you know someone who belongs to an indigenous group of people, it is much better
to have them as subjects. Since you are not allowed to go out at present because of the threat of COVID-19 pandemic,
look for someone who is near to your place or whom you have contact with through social media.

Be guided with the following questions as you write your case study:

1. Describe the group of people that you chose. Who are they? What do they do? Where did they come from? What do
you know about them?

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2. Discuss their way of life in terms of:
a. Social organizations

b. Language

c. Religion

d. Arts and literature

e. Economic systems

f. Values, beliefs and traditions

A. Assimilation
“T-M-L Phrase. Complete the following phrases.

1. The Topic was about

2. It Matters because

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3. I’ve Learned today that

V. ASSESSMENT
Directions: Read the following items carefully. Write the letter that corresponds to your answer on the blanks provided.

_______ 1. Ben is an ethnocentric. He considers other people, specifically indigenous tribes, as backwards people who
have no manners at all. Why do you think Ben come up with this bias?
a. He regards another culture as superior.
b. He regards his own culture as superior.
c. He regards his own culture as normal and uses it to measure foreign cultures.
d. He regards another culture as superior and uses it to measure his own culture

_______ 2. Lisa was a proud cultural relativist. She sees that Ilocanos are thrifty because of their geographical location.
Likewise, she sees nothing wrong about it. What did Lisa exhibit in that situation?
a. She believes anything goes in one’s own culture.
b. She measures behavior by how the other culture regards this practice.
c. She has no concept of right or wrong.
d. She measures which cultures are related to others.

_______ 3. What might be the result of ethnocentrism on a global scale?

a. Other people may be treated as savage or morally corrupt.
b. There is no way to determine which is right or wrong.
c. Native people often wish to colonize superior culture.
d. Believing one’s own culture is superior makes one a morally corrupt savage.

_______ 4. For better opportunities, many Filipinos were forced to work abroad, exposing themselves to unfamiliar culture.
Culture shock is a feeling of disorientation experienced by someone who is suddenly subjected to other’s way of
life or set of attitudes. Which of the following is NOT a symptom of culture shock?
a. Feeling homesick when in a new place
b. Feeling like the new culture is superior to your own
c. Obsessing about the cleanliness of food and water in a new place
d. Feeling the hostility towards natives or locals

_______ 5. Which of the following statements is a positive effect of ethnocentrism?

a. Rina posted on her Facebook wall saying that eating fried tarantula is “yuckie.”
b. Greg posted a statement which says, “Ang galing ng Pinoy, angat sa iba, kaya’t tayo ay magkaisa.”
c. Shiela posted a picture of Carlos P. Romulo with a caption, “This little brown monkey that you are referring to
does not eat banana peelings. He is a Filipino not an American.
d. Wendel tweeted, “Nakakatakot na ang panahon ngayon daming taong gumagala na tadtad ng tattoo ang
katawan.”

For numbers 6-10, identify whether the given statement is an example of ethnocentrism or cultural relativism. Write letter A
if it is ethnocentrism and B if it is cultural relativism.

_______ 6. Korean culture is better than our culture because many Filipinos try to imitate and adopt this culture.
_______ 7. The Aetas of Zambales ,the Mangyans of Mindoro and other Filipino tribes have different religious beliefs. Their
Gods are manifested on the different forms of nature like trees, mountains, rivers, volcano, their dead ancestors,
and many more. I think there is nothing wrong about that. It does not make them a lesser group of people.
_______ 8. Indigenous people should learn to change their old and traditional ways of life in order to be happy and
successful.
_______ 9. People in my culture could learn a lot from people in other cultures.
_______10. Filipinos’ religious traditions like the celebration of fiestas should be banned because it is just a waste of time,
energy, and resources._
VI. REFLECTION
Summarize what you have learned using the 3-2-1 chart below:

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 3 things I learned are…

2 things I found interesting…

1 Thing I realize…

VII. REFERENCES
Understanding Culture, Society and Politics Social Organizations First Edition, 2020

Checked By:
DENNIS ARCE
Prepared By:
MARICAR P. DELA CRUZ
Noted By:
DR. NERISSA R. DALUMPINES

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