Globalization and Cultural and

Multicultural Literacies
GROUP 2
AGUILAR DERDER
B E L G I DA HAIGA
DELA CRUZ MONTERDE
OBIS
 Objectives
1. Introduce Globalization and
Cultural and Multicultural Literacies.

2. Explain the effects of Globalization, the

challenges in Cultural Literacies and the
skills needed to be multiculturally literate.

3. Discuss the different issues in

teaching and learning multicultural
literacies in the Philippines.
Globalization
It is the process of interaction
and integration between people,
business entities, governments, and
cultures from other nations, driven by
international trade and investment
and supported by information
technology.
Examples
Examples
Examples
Examples
The Effects of Globalization
1. ECONOMIC
DEPENDENCE/INDEPENDENCE

2. POLITICAL AND MILITARY

DEPENDENCE/INDEPENDENCE
3. EXPANDED FLOW OF
EXPRESSIVE AND
INSTRUMENTAL CULTURE

4. EXPANDED FLOW OF
PEOPLE AMONG SOCIETIES
1. ECONOMIC DEPENDENCE/INDEPENDENCE

When the term globalization entered the Philippine

public mindset in the early 90s, it was popularly
understood to be a mainly economic phenomenon, and a
negative one at that. The idea that foreign-owned
businesses could come into the country and freely “set-up
shop”, thereby choking-out local industries was not a
welcome thought, even through it was erroneous.
1. ECONOMIC DEPENDENCE/INDEPENDENCE

While Philippine society has come to realize that this

early perspective represented a shallow understanding of
globalization, the fact of the matter is that globalization
has brought economic development to our society as a
whole. By attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), new
technologies, employment opportunities, and money have
come into the country. The phenomenon of a taxi driver
owning multiple smartphones to browse social media
while struck in traffic because of the rise of the number of
vehicles on our roads is testament to this fact.
1. ECONOMIC DEPENDENCE/INDEPENDENCE

Hout (1980) observes that international dependence

(another word for globalization) tends to suppress adult
wages, which in turn perpetuates the role of children as
economic necessities (the familiar saying “Kapag
maraming anak, maraming katulong sa hanapbuhay”),
leading to explosive population growth.
2. POLITICAL AND MILITARY DEPENDENCE/INDEPENDENCE

A survey conducted in late 2018 found that 3 in 5

Filipinos believe that the United States would intervene
on behalf of the country in case of war. (Viray, 2018).
Despite the current very conservative stance of the US on
its foreign policies, this can be taken as evidence of the
Philippines’ dependence on both the political and military
power of the US in order to maintain its sovereignty as a
nation-state in the Southeast Asia region. Similar things
can be said of Russia and the many communist nations
throughout the world.
 3. EXPANDED FLOW OF EXPRESSIVE AND
INSTRUMENTAL CULTURE
Expressive culture, as the term suggests, deals with
how a particular culture expresses itself in its language,
music, arts, and the like. Globalization encourages the
monetization of these cultural artifacts and their
import/export among participating cultures; the increased
consumption of which changes the consuming culture.
Case in point; KPOP music and culture was a relatively
niche occupation ten years ago, with very few people
aware of its existence, let alone actual fans. Today it is
practically ubiquitous in Philippine society, alongside the
consumption of all things Korean, from skin-care products
to instant noodles.
 3. EXPANDED FLOW OF EXPRESSIVE AND
INSTRUMENTAL CULTURE

Instrumental culture, on the other hand refers to

“common models of social order” (Meyer, 2000) – that is,
models or ways of thinking about and enacting national
identity, nation-state policies both domestic and foreign,
socio-economic development, human rights, education, and
social progress. A simple example of this is the Philippine
educational system.
 4. EXPANDED FLOW OF PEOPLE AMONG SOCIETIES

The fact that globalization encourages the movement of

people between nation-states should come as no surprise
to us. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) estimates
that there were 2.3 million Overseas Filipino Workers
(OFWs) during the period of April to September 2017, who
were responsible for up to 205.2 billion pesos in
remittances. (PSA, 2018)
Meyer’s (2000) three reasons:

1.) SOCIO-ECONOMIC MIGRATION – explains the

Philippines’ OFW phenomenon. Filipinos travel abroad to
find better economic opportunities for themselves and their
families for lack of said opportunities here.
2.) POLITICAL EXPULSION – has more to do with trying to
escape the political climate of a particularcountry, thereby
forcing an individual to seek asylum in another more
favorable country.

3.) TRAVEL/TOURISM – is a strong indicator of economic

development as more and more Filipinos are able to finance
short-term travels abroad, fueled by curiosity that is fed by
social media and enabled by globalization.
Cultural Literacy
It is a term coined by Hirsch (1983), referring to the
ability to understand the signs and symbols of a given
culture and being able to participate in its activities and
customs as opposes to simply being a passive (and
outside) observer.
The signs and symbols include both its formal and
informal languages, its idioms and form of expression,
entertainment, values, customs, roles, traditions and
the like- most of which are assumed and unstated. Thus,
they are learned by being part of the culture, rather
than by any formal means.
Cultural Literacy
Cultural Literacy is culture-specific, but it is not
limited to national cultures, contrary to what many
people assume. The culture of one workplace can be
very different from another, just as the culture of a
particular school can differ widely from another school
nearby.
There are far too many cultures for any one person to
be literate in all of them. As more and more Filipinos
travel both domestically and abroad as the result of
globalization and the increased opportunities it brings,
the need to develop new cultural literacies comes to the
fore.
Cultural Literacy in the Philippines
The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA)
is the government body tasked with the documentation,
preservation, and dissemination of Philippine Culture, both
locally and abroad. Part of how NCCA is addressing this and
related matters is through the establishment of the
Philippine Cultural Education Program that envisions a nation
of culturally literate and empowered Filipinos together with
DepEd to formulate the cultural heritage education programs
both local and overseas Filipinos. This would be an integral
part of Philippine Education in its all aspects.
De Leon (2011) coins this propensity for Filipinos to look
at their culture and themselves through Western lenses as
the Dona Victorina Syndrome.
Challenges for Cultural Literacy in the Philippines

As Applebee (1987) observes, interesting discussion on

cultural literacy give rise to some very difficult
questions which are particularly important to a
multicultural and multilingual nation like the Philippines.
• What kinds of knowledge constitute cultural literacy?
It is knowing facts, names, and dates, or is it
something more experiential like being familiar with
the story or a particular song?
• Its culture is more than “caught than taught”, should
cultural literacy be one of the goals of education? If
yes, how does one teach it?
Challenges for Cultural Literacy in the Philippines

• Whose culture must we be literate in to be considered

“culturally literate”? Who decides which cultures are
included and which ones are excluded, and on what
bases?
• Is cultural literacy education simply a means for the
dominant culture to express its dominance over
minority cultures?
• How is cultural literacy to be assessed and evaluated?
How can we know someone is “culturally literate”?
Multicultural Literacy
 Multicultural Literacy
Multicultural Literacy as a set of knowledge is difficult
to define because of how it change. As cultures begin to
mix and change as a result of globalization, conflicts
inevitably arise over identity, values, and worldviews. This
situation consequently needs for a literacy that enables
us to quickly and easily identify and resolve such
conflicts, preferably before they ever begin.
Multicultural literacy is a knowledge and skills
necessary to ensure that any communication with a
culture different from our own is clear, productive, and
respectful such that their differences are celebrated and
neither culture is demeaned or treated as inferior.
Examples of manner of being multicultural
literate:
1.) Be selfless

2.) Know that good and useful

things can (and do) come
1.

from those different from us.

3.) Be willing to compromise

4.) Accept that there are

limits
Issues in Teaching and Learning Multicultural Literacy
in the Philippines
1.) Conflicting Requirements for Peace
The heart of multicultural literacy is peace among
different cultures, that is productive and non-violent
interaction.

2.) Nationalistic and Regionalistic Pushback

The increasing demand for multicultural sensitivity,
inclusion and diversity in the recent years has also
given rise to resistance from groups who believe that
their identity is being “watered-down” by the needed
compromises.
Issues in Teaching and Learning Multicultural Literacy
in the Philippines
3.) The Persistence of the Problem
Boutte (2008) suggests that issues of discrimination
in all its forms (racial, religious, tribal, cultural, etc.)
are the issues of hatred, which defines in an
educational settings as “the lack of compassion and
lack of respect for the right of others”, and that such
hatred must be fought and its roots must be attacked,
because for as long as hatred exists in the human
mind, real peace will be impossible (Vreeland, 2001)
Issues in Teaching and Learning Multicultural Literacy
in the Philippines
4.) The Question of Value
Another issue in teaching and learning multicultural
literacy is better posited as a question: “Why should I
treat people of another culture with respect?”
It might seem that the answer to the question is a
simple one: for peace. But as we have seen earlier, not
everyone values peace to the same degree. What if, for
a certain culture, it is easier to just destroy anyone
who opposes them rather than expend the effort
needed to come to a mutual understanding?
Issues in Teaching and Learning Multicultural Literacy
in the Philippines
4.) The Question of Value
“Why should I value another culture, another
society, another person more that myself and my
own?” If we subscribe to Dawkins’ (2016) concept of a
“selfish gene” – where on a genetic leve, the more two
individuals are genetically similar to one another, the
more sense it makes to behave selflessly toward one
"

another and selfishly toward others who are different.