Spirituality: The Fourth Domain
Three domains are commonly accepted in the learning process: cognitive (thinking), affective (feelings and emotions), and psychomotor (physical skills). These domains interact with each other forming the perception of ourselves and our capacities to achieve our goals, directly affecting our behavior in relationship with environmental stimuli. The interrelationship also includes influential interaction between the environment and the domains. These interactions create a battle between what we think, how we feel, and what we are physically capable of, how we perceive and interpret our environment, how we perceive ourselves, and how we behave and react in response. I am entertaining the idea that spirituality is being neglected as a domain in itself and diluted within the cognitive and the affective domain. What if spirituality is, as the other three domains are, a domain in itself? How much or our lives is influenced by spirituality? What if spirituality is neither logic or emotions? What if neglecting spirituality as a domain in itself is like driving a car with three wheels when it should have four?
Spirituality has been linked to every culture since the beginning of time. Many civilizations based their existence on their spiritual practices. Daily living, politics, laws, art, and architecture are some examples. In modern and contemporary society, even though many claim an absolute separation from spiritual principles, it is possible to observe an awakening of spirituality. It is important to understand and differentiate spirituality from ritualistic practices. On one way or another, the influence of spirituality is as strong as the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains in developing a perception of the self and our capabilities, and how we respond to our environment. Therefore, I propose an inclusion of the spiritual domain as an active component of the interactions between the self and the environment, and an influencer in the learning process.
The plan for my paper is to develop a relationship between the elements comprising this idea. I want to define the characteristics of each one of the domains and how, while different from each other, they are interdependent. It is my intention to differentiate between abstract functions and those that are tangible and measurable. This differentiation includes separating environmental stimuli and how they are perceived. Moreover, I want to use these definitions and relationships to develop understanding how these elements, by themselves and in combination, influence behavior and specifically our attitude and aptitudes towards learning. Understanding will lead to practical and theoretical considerations to develop awareness of our own processes, as well as strategies for modification and balancing of the influences of the domains. It is my expectation that through the exploration of this idea of spirituality as the fourth domain can shed insights in addressing people and their learning processes with a holistic approach.
August has been a month of “firsts”. I had the chance to work on 
I do not think I have a special wisdom or some kind of talent to speak to people’s need. I am also far away from being a preacher, a prophet, or a motivational speaker (although I used to be a motivational speaker a long time ago). In my short life and the experiences I’ve been through, as well as the times I learned from what I’ve seen from others, I learned to pause and see the world. I do see the world with a little humor which is not always understood by others but it is fun inside my head. Learning from the Bible as well as having a holistic view of the world helps me connect the dots. That doesn’t mean that I know everything or that I have everything figured out. No one does. I am just glad and thankful that I can share the little I know and bright the day for someone.
Too Old To Dream
Sometimes I feel too old to dream anymore
I guess it took me long enough to get back to writing for this blog. It is time to get back at it. I hope the title stirred up your curiosity. Sometimes I feel too old to dream anymore. No, I didn’t lose my edge, or neither I think that dreams are not important. I will always be a dreamer. However, it is time to take action and make those dreams happen. I’ve been trying to understand my path in life, the reasons for my experience, academics, my art, my skills, my weaknesses, my mistakes, those apparent failures, and moreover, the dreams I have for my life. I discovered soon enough that all of it was never about me.
My wife and I have been reading, seeking information, reaching out to organizations, and talking to people about human trafficking, and more specifically, domestic sex trafficking victims. While this is not a foreign subject for us, it was until recently that our hearts began burning for these victims, their trauma, their restoration, and the future they can have through freedom and healing. I’ve been assessing the tools I have and how these can be used for this purpose. I have to start with what I have no matter how little and insignificant it may look. To be specific, I have on one hand my academic preparation, teaching and research experience, and on the other hand, art. How do these two connect?
I shared before about social learning theory and how it helps to understand human behavior and antecedents to develop strategies for teaching and learning more effectively. In the past year or so, I’ve been contributing to some expansion of the theory not only in the complexity of factors of causation, but also in the application of the theory beyond the realm of learning. Adding the affective and the spiritual domains, and making the physical domain broader than just psychomotor skills, along with how the interactions of factors produce more than just self-efficacy and agency, are some of the things I’ve been working on. Also, I’ve been working on understanding how this theory is useful for trauma treatment. Moreover, I’ve been understanding in deeper ways how the benefits of the creative process are a tool to facilitate the healing process. I know it is a lot to grasp in a short post. I am putting together a research article on it.
This effort is just one piece of the puzzle. My wife is working on her piece of the puzzle too. She is working on the physical aspects of trauma through a holistic health approach. At the same time, she is connecting to mental health professionals to focus in the counseling and support aspects. All together is forming a inter-disciplinary and inter-professional holistic approach that focuses on the person being restored. Better yet, with every passing day, this is no longer a dream. The pieces are coming together to become a reality. Life is about to take a turn in a direction that is still unknown to us, and more importantly, to the people this is about.
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