Meaning, Components and Types of Culture for Primary 1

Culture

Performance Objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. define culture;
2. list the components of culture;
3. list types of culture.

Meaning of Culture

Culture is the way of life of a group of people.

It includes everything people do, think, and believe in their daily lives. Culture shows how people live, dress, eat, speak, and celebrate in their community. Different groups of people have different cultures, which means they have different ways of doing things.

Components of Culture

Culture is made up of different parts. These parts help to shape how people live and interact with each other. The main parts of culture are values, beliefs, customs, and language.

Values

Values are the things that a group of people consider important and good.

For example, many Nigerian cultures value respect for elders, honesty, and hard work. Children are taught to greet elders by kneeling or prostrating, which shows respect. These values guide how people behave and make choices.

Beliefs

Beliefs are the things that a group of people think are true.

For instance, some cultures believe that certain stories teach important lessons about life. People also have beliefs about how to treat others, how to care for the environment, and how to live a good life in their community.

Customs

Customs are the usual ways of doing things in a particular culture.

These include how people greet each other, how they celebrate festivals, how they eat, and how they dress for different occasions. For example, in some cultures, it is a custom to eat food with the right hand, or to remove shoes before entering a house.

Language

Language is the way people communicate with each other using words.

Every culture has its own language or languages. In Nigeria, there are many languages like Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Efik, Tiv, and many others. People use language to share their ideas, stories, feelings, and to teach their children about their culture.

Types of Culture

Culture can be divided into two main types: material culture and non-material culture. These types help to understand the different aspects of a people’s way of life.

Material Culture

Material culture refers to all the physical things that people in a culture make and use.

These are things that can be seen and touched. They are objects that help people live their lives, work, and express themselves. Examples of material culture include:

1. Clothes, such as traditional attires like agbada, wrapper, and buba.
2. Food items, such as jollof rice, pounded yam, and fufu.
3. Houses and other buildings where people live and work.
4. Tools used for farming or daily tasks, like hoes, cutlasses, and grinding stones.
5. Art and crafts, such as carvings, pottery, and woven baskets.
6. Musical instruments, such as drums, flutes, and gongs.

Non-Material Culture

Non-material culture refers to the ideas, beliefs, values, customs, and languages of a group of people.

These are things that cannot be seen or touched, but they are very important to how people live and interact. Non-material culture shapes how people think and behave. Examples of non-material culture include:

1. Languages, such as Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo.
2. Greetings, like kneeling to elders or prostrating.
3. Stories and folktales that teach lessons and history.
4. Songs and dances performed during celebrations.
5. Beliefs about what is right and what is wrong.
6. Values like honesty, respect, and kindness.

Identifying material and non-material culture means knowing which things you can touch and which you cannot. For example, a drum is material culture because it is a physical object that can be touched. However, the song played on the drum is non-material culture because it is an idea or sound, not a physical object you can hold.