Volume 19, 2016 Approved March 5, 2016

ISSN: 2165-1019 www.ala.org/aasl/slr

The Dispositions of Elementary School

Children of Individualistic and Collectivist
Cultures Who Are Intrinsically Motivated to
Seek Information
Sherry R. Crow, M.L.S., Ph.D., University of Nebraska Kearney, Kearney, NE 68847

Lisa Kastello, Ed.D., University of Nebraska Kearney, Kearney, NE 68847

Abstract
This paper is based on two studies conducted in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2008 and in
Kampala, Uganda, in 2014. The basic research question addressed in both studies was: “What
are the experiences in the lives of upper elementary-aged children that foster an intrinsic
motivation to seek information?” The secondary question was: “How do the experiences of
students from a collectivist culture (Kampala, Uganda) who are intrinsically motivated to seek
information compare and contrast with the experiences of similarly aged students from an
individualistic culture (Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.A.)?” The focus of this paper is to
explore the dispositions of both sets of informants using a theoretical framework consisting of
the educative dispositions of an Effective Learner—independence, creativity, self-motivation, and
resilience (Bertram and Pascal 2002)—as correlated with the dispositions listed in the American
Association of School Librarians’ Standards for the 21st-Century Learner (2007). The findings
were that both sets of informants exhibited an affinity for play and a tendency toward creativity,
and that the Ugandan students were more inclined toward competence-building activities than
their Colorado Springs counterparts, who generally exhibited noncompetitive dispositions.
Furthermore, resilience was a disposition revealed by students in the Ugandan study.

Keywords: effective learner, creativity, resilience, independence, self-motivation, intrinsic

motivation, autonomy-supportive teaching, Self-Determination Theory, school librarianship,
collectivist culture, individualistic culture, qualitative research
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Introduction
Much of the discussion about students in the United States today focuses on their test scores.
This circumstance is not surprising because schools are under extreme pressure to produce
students who do well on standardized tests. However, while these tests are intended to measure
students’ skills and knowledge, they are not intended to measure dispositions, attributes that also
contribute to students’ future success and happiness. In fact, the climate in schools that
emphasize higher test scores tend to generate educational approaches based on external
regulation and controlling social contexts. While these kinds of strategies may or may not be
successful in raising test scores, they actually are “likely to sabotage a key goal of education—
creating a flexible population of life-long learners who can adjust to the changing needs of
society and the workplace” (Sheldon and Biddle 1998, 164). Instead, Pre-K–12 educators should
be encouraged to implement strategies that will not only help students achieve academically but
will also foster and promote positive dispositions toward learning.

Dispositions
Merriam-Webster defines a disposition as “a tendency to act or think in a particular way” (2015).
In the educational arena, the Innovation Lab Network defines positive dispositions as “mindsets
(sometimes referred to as behaviors, capacities, or habits of mind) that are closely associated
with success” (Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) 2013, 5). Denise Da Ros-
Voseles and Sally Fowler-Haughey have stated, “Dispositions are frequent and voluntary habits
of thinking and doing” (2007, 1).
While the definition can generally be agreed upon, deciding which dispositions are desirable for
Pre-K–12 students to possess is another matter. Based on an intersection of terms used in
international definitions and skills frameworks, the Innovation Lab Network listed the following
skills and dispositions as supported by current research to be strongly predictive of K–12
students’ academic success: self-efficacy, initiative, integrity, intellectual curiosity, adaptability,
study skills, time and goal management, collaboration, communication, and problem solving. In
the same study, leadership, self-awareness, and self-control were found to be moderately
predictive of K–12 student success (CCSSO 2013).
In the realm of the school library profession, Judi Moreillon and Kristin Fontichiaro listed
keywords from the dispositions sections of American Association of School Librarians’
(AASL’s) Standards for the 21st-Century Learner: “initiative, investigating, confidence, self-
direction, creativity, questioning, adaptability, emotional resilience, persistence, flexibility,
productivity, leadership, teamwork, curiosity, motivation, openness, and critical stance” (2008,
65).
In whatever way dispositions are defined and listed, they are no doubt an integral part of an
individual’s ability to learn and grow. In fact, CCSSO has stated that the knowledge and skills
students need to be successful “are not achieved in a vacuum but require the development of
underlying dispositions or behavioral capacities” (2013).

Background
This paper is based on studies conducted in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2008 (Crow 2011)
and in Kampala, Uganda, in June 2014 (Crow 2015). The basic research question addressed in

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both studies was: “What are the experiences in the lives of upper elementary-aged children that
foster an intrinsic motivation to seek information?” The secondary question in the Ugandan
study was: “How do the experiences of students from a collectivist culture (Kampala, Uganda)
who are intrinsically motivated to seek information compare and contrast with the experiences of
similarly aged students from an individualistic culture (Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.A.)?”

Overview of Information-Seeking Behavior Findings

The findings relating to students’ information-seeking behavior of the two sets of informants, as
seen through the lens of the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) (Deci and Ryan 1985), indicated
that the dominant motivation pattern of the Kampalan students was the same as the students in
the Colorado Springs study (high to low): Identified (action resulting from values), Intrinsic
(action based on inherent pleasure or satisfaction), Introjected (action stemming from pride or
shame avoidance), and Extrinsic (action to gain reward or to avoid punishment) (see Crow
2015).
As for the students’ information-seeking styles, there were fewer book readers in the Ugandan
study (40 percent) compared with the Colorado Springs study (78 percent), no doubt reflecting
the scarcity of printed material of all types in the homes of the Ugandan children in the study,
though they did have access to a small library at school. Ugandan students were more apt to ask
other people in their information-seeking quests (100 percent) than the students from Colorado
Springs (34 percent), reflecting the collectivist and individualistic natures of the two sets of
students’ cultures. Only 20 percent of the students in Uganda were television and movie
watchers, compared with 78 percent in Colorado Springs. Part of the reason for this disparity is
no doubt due to the unreliability of electricity in Uganda, as well as the very small number of
televisions in the informants’ homes there. Both sets of informants showed the same preference
for non-assigned information-seeking experiences, and none of the preferred information
experiences from either group was fully assigned (Crow 2011, 2015).
Both the Kampalan and Coloradan students mentioned a variety of interests and information-
seeking episodes related to those interests. Both groups showed more interest in academic topics
(science, social studies, and math) than any other, but of the academic topics, the Kampalan
students also showed an interest in English (a second language for this population). Science was
the favorite academic topic of both informant groups. The interest in reflective topics varied
greatly, with Coloradan students showing great interest in career-related topics and the
Kampalan students reflecting more on death, fear of dogs, and abuse (Crow 2011, 2015).
In addition to the findings reported in previous articles, informants from both studies exhibited
particular dispositions in both their information-seeking and other aspects of their living
experiences. The purpose of this article is to explore the dispositions of both sets of informants.

Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks

Introduction

The theoretical framework for the disposition analysis of the two studies consists of the four
educative dispositions of an Effective Learner—independence, creativity, self-motivation, and
resilience (Bertram and Pascal 2002)—as correlated with the dispositions listed in AASL’s
Standards for the 21st-Century Learner (2007).

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Dispositions of an Effective Learner/21st-Century Learner

Overview
Based on experience and research acquired through the Accounting Early for Life Long Learning
Project, Tony Bertram and Christine Pascal outlined three elements of the effective learner:
“dispositions to learn, social competence and self-concept, [and] emotional well being” (2002,
246). With regard to dispositions to learn, those authors described dispositions as
environmentally sensitive, that is, they are not characteristics that are inborn but rather are
developed through relational experiences. According to Bertram and Pascal the four dispositions
that characterize the effective learner are “independence, creativity, self-motivation, and
resilience” (2002, 246).
Standards for the 21st-Century Learner (AASL 2007), developed by experienced practitioners
and professionals in the school library field, “require[d] that instruction focuses on the learning
process” (AASL 2009, 6). AASL includes Dispositions in Action, along with Skills,
Responsibilities, and Self-Assessment Strategies as threads embedded within its four Standards
for the 21st-Century Learner, indicating that in information seeking (as in all learning
experiences) students’ dispositions are central to their quality and quantity of learning.

Independence
The disposition of independence is exhibited when a child is able “to be self-sufficient, to self-
organize, and self-manage” (Bertram and Pascal 2002, 248). While the independent child is at
ease with and enjoys the opportunity for making choices, the child also takes responsibility for
the outcomes of those choices. With regard to resources, independent children “are capable of
making selections and of locating and using resources appropriately. They develop competencies
in organizing their environment, including the human environment, which allow them to have
agency and affect change” (Bertram and Pascal 2002, 248). Independent children know they can
ask for support from adults when needed but prefer to maintain autonomy in most situations.
The disposition of independence has great influence on successful students’ information-seeking
behavior. The word independent is mentioned three times in AASL’s 2007 Standards for the
21st-Century Learner, twice in reference to independent learners. Standard 1.2.2 states that 21st-
century learners “Demonstrate confidence and self-direction by making independent choices in
the selection of resources and information” (2007, 4), paralleling language used by Bertram and
Pascal (2002). Fostering students’ independence is not only an important mission in the U.S.;
fostering independent and self-directed learners is a goal of school librarians all over the world
(Danley et al. 1999).

Creativity
Adjectives that describe children who possess the disposition of creativity are: curious,
“imaginative, spontaneous, . . . innovative” and interested in their world (Bertram and Pascal
2002, 248). During their explorations these children naturally look for patterns, making
comparisons and noting differences in whatever they find. They are often the ones to instigate
play and expand on traditional ideas of play. Creative children often express themselves through
humor, and enjoy the processes of thinking and learning. Because creative children have “an
established self-identity based on secure notions of belonging” they tend to take risks (Bertram
and Pascal 2002, 249).

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At the intersection of research on creativity and intrinsic motivation lies the work of Teresa M.
Amabile (1982a, 1982b). She has described primary components in the creative process: domain-
relevant skills (knowledge, technical skills, and talent in the domain), creativity-relevant skills
(cognitive styles, working styles, and personality styles conducive to using domain-relevant
skills to produce creative products), and intrinsic task motivation (motivation to do the task
primarily because it is involving, interesting, satisfying, or personally challenging). A crucial
aspect of her work is the consideration of the social environment’s effect on each component.
Amabile’s research suggests that the promise of evaluations or rewards has a negative effect on
creativity, but not on technique or product likability. Her theoretical position is that intrinsic
motivation is conducive to creativity and extrinsic motivation can be detrimental to creativity.
According to Amabile, the factor that seems to account for the increase or decrease of intrinsic
motivation is a student’s perceived autonomy (Amabile, Hennessey, and Grossman 1986).
With regard to information seeking, the word creativity is used three times in AASL’s Standards
for the 21st-Century Learner. Standard 1.2.3 states that learners “demonstrate creativity by using
multiple resources and formats”; 4.1.3 describes learners as “respond[ing] to . . . creative
expressions of ideas in various formats and genres”; 4.1.8 characterizes 21st-century learners as
“us[ing] creative and artistic formats to express personal learning” (2007 3, 7).
Based on the findings of creativity theorists, Alane Jordan Starko (2014) identified the following
personal characteristics that contribute to an individual’s creativity: curiosity; connectedness and
metaphorical thinking; flexibility; logical thinking skills; independence in judgment; willingness
to take risks; and perseverance, drive, and commitment. R. Keith Sawyer, also based on “a
synthesis of models and research,” has outlined an eight-stage model of the creative process:
1. Find the problem
2. Acquire the knowledge
3. Gather related information
4. Incubation
5. Generate ideas
6. Combine ideas
7. Select the best ideas
8. Externalize ideas. (2012, 140)
These characteristics of the creative individual, as well as those described by Bertram and Pascal
(2002), are reflected in well-known information-seeking models, such as the Big6 (Eisenberg
and Berkowitz 1999), the I-Search Process (Joyce and Tallman 1997), and the Information
Search Process (Kuhlthau 2004).

Self-Motivation
The disposition of self-motivation is exhibited in children who, of their own volition, engage
deeply in problem-solving and interest-related activities. They understand that failure is a part of
the process of succeeding, are willing to review and change strategies if needed, and are eager to
share their accomplishments with any who will listen. Self-motivated children can be described
as determined, persistent, positive, driven, and goal-oriented (Bertram and Pascal 2002, 249).
These children are willing to “expend the necessary energy to achieve their goals” (Da Ros-
Voseles and Fowler-Haughey 2007, 4).

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Self-motivation can be compared to internal self-regulation within the framework of Self-

Determination Theory (SDT) (Deci and Ryan 1985). SDT is an organismic motivational theory
that stratifies three types of motivation: amotivation (which is actually a lack of motivation),
extrinsic motivation, and intrinsic motivation. Of particular importance to this article are SDT’s
subtheories: Cognitive Evaluation Theory and Organismic Integration Theory.
Cognitive Evaluation Theory posits that social conditions producing a sense of autonomy and a
perception of competence foster one’s inherent tendency toward intrinsic motivation.
Relatedness has also been found to be a significant contributing factor (Ryan and Deci 2000b).
Autonomy, acting on one’s volition, indicates a sense of initiation and value attached to the
autonomous action (Deci and Ryan 2002). The need for competence is defined as “the need to
experience oneself as capable of producing desired outcomes and avoiding negative outcomes”
(Connell and Wellborn 1991, 51). Social environments that promote a perceived sense of
competence for a particular action enhance intrinsic motivation for that action (Ryan and Deci
2000b). The need for relatedness “encompasses the need to feel securely connected to the social
surround and the need to experience oneself as worthy and capable of love and respect” (Connell
and Wellborn 1991, 51–52). SDT posits that while the needs for autonomy and competence are
the most influential in maintaining intrinsic motivation, relatedness also plays a significant role.
Research indicates that the need to belong, the desire for interpersonal attachments, is a
fundamental human need (Baumeister and Leary 1995).
Organismic Integration Theory (OIT) stratifies types of extrinsic motivation, providing a
framework for examining social contexts that “promote or hinder internalization and integration
of the regulation for [specific] behaviors” (Ryan and Deci 2000a, 61). The factor that
differentiates the types of motivation and regulatory styles is the level of autonomy perceived by
the individual in a given situation. In amotivation, people either do not act at all or act without
intent. Intrinsic motivation, on the other hand, stems from the self, and action is stimulated by
interest, enjoyment, curiosity, or pleasure (Ryan and Deci 2000b). The final category, extrinsic
motivation, is divided into four types. The first type, external regulation, refers to behaviors
caused by an external demand or reward and is the least-autonomous type of extrinsic
motivation. The second type, introjected regulation, is action caused by feelings of pressure and
is done to avoid guilt or anxiety, or to enhance ego, pride, or self-worth. The third type, identified
regulation, is a more-autonomous type of extrinsic motivation that results when one attaches
personal importance to the behavior. The fourth type, integrated regulation, occurs when
behaviors based on values are fully assimilated to the self (Ryan and Deci 2000b).
Self-motivation is exhibited when people are intrinsically driven to act for the purposes of
pleasure, enjoyment, or satisfaction (Deci and Ryan 1985). It is important to note that, while
intrinsic motivation is a primary type of self-determined motivation, it is not the only one. People
self-regulate their behavior for a variety of external reasons, including making money and
staying healthy; however, children are more likely than adults to have the freedom of acting for
intrinsic reasons alone (Ryan and Deci 2000b).
Within the framework of AASL’s Standards for the 21st-Century Learner, self-motivation is
implied in Standard 4: “Pursue personal and aesthetic growth.” Standard 4.2.1 states that students
“display curiosity by pursuing interests through multiple resources,” and 4.2.2 states that 21st-
century learners “demonstrate motivation by seeking information to answer personal questions
and interests, trying a variety of formats and genres, and displaying a willingness to go beyond
academic requirements.” Again, in 4.2.4 self-motivation is displayed when students “show an
appreciation for literature by electing to read for pleasure and expressing an interest in various
literary genres” (2007, 7).
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The fourth strand of learning embedded in AASL’s 2007 Standards for the 21st-Century Learner
contains self-assessment strategies. (The other three are skills, dispositions in action, and
responsibilities.) At the heart of this self-assessment strand is the students’ ability to regulate
their learning processes to the point of assessing their own work, and then self-prescribing
strategies to improve its quality or to find the information desired. Of course, at first teachers and
school librarians generally guide self-assessment in assigned information projects, and then
“gradually transfer that responsibility to the student as he or she develops the capacity to assume
it” (AASL 2009), thus promoting and fostering students’ self-motivation in their reflections on
their information-seeking behavior.

Resilience
The final educative disposition Bertram and Pascal identified as characterizing the effective
learner is resilience. Resilient children learn to develop strategies “for coping with change,
recovering quickly and rebounding from disappointments” (2002, 249). They have the internal
resources to rally from setbacks, retaining their own personality and spirit. Often, they enjoy
challenges and are the first to offer solutions to problems. The disposition of resilience can
develop out of a will to survive, allowing dependence on others to wax and wane without
severing relationships. Resilient children understand that “sometimes adults get things wrong”
and that children may have to live with those things, at least temporarily. Resilient children
“understand the rewards to be gained from the processes of engagement, negotiation, assertion
and persuasion” (2002, 249), processes that develop naturally from children’s recurring problem-
solving experiences. In essence, students not only learn to overcome, but are “strengthened by,
and [are] even . . . transformed by experiences of adversity” (Cesarone 1999, 12). The Council of
Chief State School Officers has stated that resilience is a disposition leading to socio-emotional
skills or behaviors that are associated with success in becoming a contributing member of society
(2013).
As in life, resilience is an important disposition for success in information seeking. Julie
Hersberger noted factors in people’s lives that develop resiliency and which also relate to
information seeking. They are hardiness, locus of control, and learned resourcefulness, all of
which when put to positive use produce experiences that build self-efficacy (2011). AASL’s
Standards for the 21st-Century Learner state that, for students to “inquire, think critically, and
gain knowledge” (Standard 1), they must, as 1.2.6 states, “display emotional resilience by
persisting in information searching despite challenges” (2007, 4). Often, resilient children have
confidence and a willingness to take risks because their interests motivate them to persevere until
the desired outcome is reached (Bertram and Pascal 2002: Cesarone 1999; Grotberg 1993).

Methodology
Participants
The students in the study conducted in Colorado Springs were selected from a pool of fifth-
graders in eight classes from three diverse schools in the community. The students in the
Kampalan study were boys and girls 9 to 13 years old, primarily orphans, attending a small
private primary school on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda. The number of students in the age
range attending on the dates of the study in Colorado Springs was 100, and in Kampala was 31.

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The Hofstede-Bond model of five cultural value dimensions (Hofstede and Bond 1988) suggests
that the Ugandan culture is highly collectivist (persons give unquestioning loyalty to “in groups”
that, in exchange, take care of them), whereas the U.S. is highly individualistic (people tend to
look after only themselves and their nuclear family; Hofstede Center 2014). The disparity
between the United States and Uganda in this cultural dimension led us to believe that a study of
the social contexts surrounding children from these countries who show a tendency toward
intrinsic motivation for information seeking might lead to a better understanding of contextual
factors that contribute to this phenomenon.

Instrument for Identifying Study Participants

The Self-Regulation Questionnaire for Information Seeking (SRQ-IS) (Crow 2009) was
developed by one of the authors of this paper and used in the first study in Colorado. It is an
adaptation of the SRQ-A (Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire; Ryan and Connell 1989) for
the domain of information-seeking behavior. The instrument used to identify the Ugandan
informants was the Self-Regulation Questionnaire for Information Seeking-Uganda (SRQ-IS-U;
Crow 2015), an adaptation of the SRQ-IS (Crow 2009) to allow for clarification of terms for the
Kampalan informants. Students who were identified from the survey as having a dominant
intrinsic motivation to seek information with at least a .03 differential from their second
dominant motivation domain were chosen as informants for the two studies. Nine children were
identified in the Colorado study (pseudonyms: Alexandra, Bailey, Bob, Carl, Michael, Mickey,
Melissa, Nicole, and Victoria), and five in the Kampala study (pseudonyms: John, Lukshebyi,
Melissa, Namata, and Salim).

Data Collection
Overview

Data collection for both studies began with interviews and continued with observation of
environment and a drawing activity.

Interviews

Interviewing, the first method of data collection, was chosen because the research should begin
and be based on the experiences of the students in their own words, their own language, and
taken in the direction they lead. The interviews were semi-structured and open-ended. They
began with broad questions and then narrowed in with more specific questions on the
experiences that illuminated the phenomenon of interest—intrinsic motivation for information
seeking (Creswell 1998, 121).
Another possible interview strategy considered was the Critical Incident Technique (CIT). CIT is
defined as “a set of procedures for collecting direct observations of human behavior in such a
way as to facilitate their potential usefulness in solving practical problems and developing broad
psychological principles” (Flanagan 1954, 1). It is used primarily to gather from informants
information drawn from their memory of particular incidents. “This is usually satisfactory when
the incidents reported are fairly recent and the observers were motivated to make detailed
observations and evaluations at the time the incident occurred” (Flanagan 1954, 14). However,
because the children in the study were recalling incidents that may or may not have been recent,

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and had no reason for making detailed observations and evaluations at the time of the incidents,
it was determined that asking broad questions and using probing follow-up questions based on
the students’ answers were more appropriate in working with the children in these studies.
On a deeper level, active, in-depth interviews “are conversations where meanings are not only
conveyed, but cooperatively built up, received, interpreted, and recorded by the interviewer”
(Silverman 2004, 147). The informant and interviewer collaborated together to construct
meaning from the student’s experiences. The questions and information sought in these
interviews was: a) “What makes a good (happy) day for you?” (factors in the students’ life
experiences that have contributed to their dispositions toward seeking information generally),
and b) “Think of a time recently when you wanted or needed to find out information or learn
something, either for school or your own interest. Could you tell me about what you remember
of that time?” (factors surrounding their information-seeking experiences, in particular the types
of questions they ask). The protocol for the second line of questioning (information-seeking
experiences) was developed by Andrew K. Shenton and Pat Dixon (2003) for a study of the
information-seeking behavior and needs of young people, and was based on a similar study by
Brenda Dervin et al. (1976).

Observation of Environment
The role used by the researcher for the observation of environment activity in the two settings
was that of complete observer. Specifically, the room and other artifacts surrounding the
informants’ classroom environment were examined and noted; relevant aspects of their
communities were also observed and noted. The examination of the physical evidence of the
experience of children shed light on the factors that influenced their intrinsic motivation, either
as a disposition or specifically for information seeking.

Drawing Activity
Informants were asked to draw a picture illustrating a good (happy) day (picture A) and another
about a recent information-seeking experience (picture B). These directions purposefully
mirrored the interview questions and served as a means to check reliability by comparing the
content and tone of the artwork with students’ interview answers. The materials used for the
activity were standard-sized pieces of blank paper and pencils, markers, and crayons. The
Consensual Assessment Technique was used to evaluate students’ original work. This procedure,
established by Amabile (1983) to use experts in a field to evaluate artistic products for creativity,
has been used in other studies concerned with children’s art, creativity, and intrinsic motivation
(Amabile 1979, 1982a; Amabile, DeJong, and Lepper 1976; Koestner et al. 1984). Three
certified elementary art teachers served as experts for the studies, scoring the students’ artwork
on evaluation forms created by the researchers using the Amabile protocol. These scores were
used to determine the predominant characteristics of the students’ drawings, as well as to
establish inter-rater reliability of the evaluations.

Limitations
The methodological limitations to the studies include: the use of a sample that is purposive
(Miles and Huberman 1994) and not random; the gathering of informants from only two
geographical areas; comparing the findings of children studied in 2008 as compared with those

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studied in 2014; and the limitation of the use of the self-regulation questionnaires with children
who are able to understand and respond to the questionnaire (with an interpreter). Because of
these limitations, the results of the study cannot be generalized to all students in all situations, to
all students of collectivist or individualistic cultures, or to all students in Colorado Springs,
Colorado, or in Kampala, Uganda.

Findings and Discussion

Overview
Analysis of the data indicates that students from both Kampala and Colorado Springs exhibited
an affinity for play, and a tendency toward creativity, but that their attitudes toward their own
competencies and competition differed. Within these findings the students from both cultures
show evidence of the dispositions of effective learners: independence, creativity, self-motivation,
and resilience (Bertram and Pascal 2002).

Play

The Kampalan informants spoke enthusiastically about play. Every Kampalan student mentioned
at least one sport or outdoor activity, especially soccer and dodgeball. At recess, many boys
played soccer, while most girls played dodgeball. They discussed how much they enjoyed these
games, both when they win and when they lose, a common trait of resilient children who tend to
be happy “with new challenges” (Bertram and Pascal 2002, 249). When John was asked why he
liked soccer even when he loses, he said, “I just enjoy it. I love soccer so much.” Other outdoor
activities mentioned were riding bicycles, swimming, driving scooters, skipping rope, swinging,
racing, and playing in the bouncing castle at the amusement park.
The Coloradan informants also recounted many play experiences. Sports (mostly football) were
mentioned, but not as often as with the Kampalan students. The Coloradans discussed outdoor
activities such as hiking, camping, and biking. “Yeah, behind my house, there’s all kinds of trails
and stuff and me and my friends will go up and ride” (Michael). Playing on the computer was an
activity described by this set of students, engaging in video games both alone and with friends
(Crow 2011).
The students from Colorado discussed information-seeking activities they do for enjoyment. As
examples, Victoria described searching the Internet randomly for information in her spare time,
and Carl recalled incidents in which he caught and observed bugs for fun. Ugandan informants
also recounted occasions when information seeking was fun. Namata described playing at the
river’s edge during the rainy season so she could see whether or not the riverbank receded and
the river got bigger. She expressed enjoyment at testing out the definition of “erosion” she had
heard in school. These children, both through their words and pictures, “indicated that they
viewed information seeking as fun and as a regular part of their leisure time” (Crow 2011, 11).
Lukshebyi was the only Kampalan child to mention imaginative play, a type of play mentioned
much more often by the Colorado Springs students. She gave a detailed description of playing
cooking, with names of foods and how to prepare them. She made a point of showing the
researcher her pretend cooking area—consisting of a cup, spoon, and several objects made of
mud—in her home in the community. It is interesting to note that the head teacher and founder of
the school first used play as “bait” to entice students to come to her school.

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The school started in a crazy way, because children were all over the community in the
street, and doing dangerous things to each other, to the community, you know, stealing,
because they had no food. They had no one to care for them. So first of all, I went under
the tree and then called some. I’m like “Come, come!” Just like playing around. “Come
on, we’ll play. What are you doing on the rubbish pit? Let’s go and play.” So they started
coming. They would hear us singing and they would come. They would see games, and
they would come. (Interview with head teacher, June 2014)
These comments indicate that play and curiosity were central in drawing children to the Ugandan
school. As with all children, play “increases affiliation with peers, releases tension, advances
cognitive development, increases exploration, and provides a safe haven in which to engage in
potentially dangerous behavior” (Santrock 2006, 281). Play is generally self-motivated, and
through play children can meet the psychological needs of competence, autonomy, and
relatedness. In fact, play is considered a prototypical example of intrinsic motivation because it is
action motivated by enjoyment (Ryan, Kuhl, and Deci 1997). The Kampalan children’s view of
their school as a safe haven in which to learn and play attracted them to the school, perhaps as
much as any other factor.
The Coloradan children also viewed play as important and worthy of their protection. For
instance, they saw taking away their recess time as a terrible threat and would do whatever they
could to protect that time. Related to their sense of play, these students also displayed a keen
sense of humor, not a trait typically found in the Ugandan study participants. The Coloradan
participants often gave the reason “because they are funny” for choosing friends and why they
liked adults, and why they read various books and watched specific movies.

Creativity
Creativity, “the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be
useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others”
(Franken 1994, 396), was a characteristic of both sets of informants. In their interviews, three of
five Kampalan students and six of nine Coloradan students described writing and drawing as
activities they do for fun. The activities of these students typify Amabile’s (1982a, 1982b) theory
of creativity-relevant skills: cognitive styles, working styles, and personality styles conducive to
using domain-relevant skills to produce creative products. These students mentioned in-school
activities as well as writing and drawing at home for fun. Ugandan Melissa specifically
mentioned a precious book she kept at home for personal writing, and three Coloradans
described books they were currently writing at home. In addition to writing and drawing,
Lukshebyi exhibited her creativity by elaborately describing her pretend cooking experiences.
The Coloradan students also mentioned creative expressions through music, dancing,
photography, building, and technology creations, and additionally mentioned looking for
information about building, drawing, and creating websites, using their new-found information
to continue their creative activities (Crow 2011). As examples, two Coloradan students (Victoria
and Nicole) described seeking out and taking photographs of wildlife to better study and draw
them, and Michael recalled looking for information about photography, creating websites, and
doing “extreme sports” so he could create a website about himself and his friends doing fancy
skateboarding tricks. These examples illustrate Bertram and Pascal’s assertion that children who
possess the disposition of creativity are “imaginative, spontaneous,…innovative” (2002, 248).
The drawings the children produced also indicated the characteristic of creativity. The art
evaluation process was adapted from a procedure established by Amabile (1982b) to evaluate
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creativity in authentic art. The evaluation forms prepared for the judges contained a scale for
each of nine art dimensions. The scale range was: very poor, poor, average, good, and very good.
The dimensions were for creativity—novel idea, effort evident, detail, complexity, variation in
shapes, and novel use of materials—and for technical goodness—organization, neatness, and
expression of meaning. These dimensions were among those listed in the artistic clusters of
creativity and technical goodness evaluated in other creativity in art studies (Amabile 1979,
1982; Amabile, DeJong, and Lepper 1976; Koestner et al. 1984). The dimensions were chosen
for these studies based on their appropriateness for the age group and the particular art activity.
The evaluation forms (adapted from Amabile 1982b) were collected and values assigned to the
scale scores, using 1 for very poor to 5 for very good. The dimensions were grouped by
creativity and technical goodness, and the mean scores calculated for each of the student’s
pictures in each study. A Cronbach’s alpha was calculated to test the reliability of the judges’
scoring for each of the artistic dimensions in the art evaluations. Internal consistency was
measured for all three judges’ evaluation scores for the two drawings produced by the students in
both studies. Because six of nine dimensions of the Ugandan picture A (“a good (happy) day for
me”) evaluations showed low, zero, or negative internal consistency, the evaluations of those
pictures were not considered. The low to negative scores may be due to the small sample size
(De Vaus 2002), or perhaps because the Ugandan students were not familiar with the art
materials; picture A was the first one they drew. A score of alpha 0.6 or greater (indicating an
acceptably reliable set of responses; George and Mallery 1999; Kline 2000) was found for all but
the “complexity” and “novel use of materials” dimensions for the Ugandan picture B. The
findings indicate that for seven of nine dimensions for picture B, the evaluation of Ugandan
students’ scores for the artistic dimensions displayed an “acceptable” internal consistency across
all three judges (see table 1). In the Coloradan study, a score of alpha 0.7 or greater (indicating a
reliable set of responses; Hinton 2004, 302–3) was found for all dimensions but “novel idea” for
picture A, and for all the dimensions for picture B (Crow 2011; see table 2). For these reasons,
Ugandan picture B (“a time when I sought information”), and each of the Coloradans “best
work” (determined by the picture (A or B) receiving the highest total score from all three judges)
was used for analysis of artistic dimensions, so that only one picture was used for art evaluation
for students from both studies.

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Table 1. The Cronbach alpha score for the judges’ evaluations of the artistic dimensions for
Ugandan picture B.

Alpha Score for

Artistic Dimension
Picture B*
Creativity Cluster
Novel idea .73
Effort evident .62
Detail .66
Complexity .59
Variation of shapes .65
Novel use of materials .58
Technical Cluster
Organization .85
Neatness .76
Expression of meaning .83

*Picture B topic was “a time when I sought information”

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Table 2. The Cronbach’s alpha score for the judges’ evaluations of the artistic dimensions for
Coloradan pictures A and B.

Alpha Score for Alpha Score for

Artistic Dimension
Picture A* Picture B**
Creativity Cluster
Novel idea .47 .90
Effort evident .79 .90
Detail .85 .90
Complexity .84 .83
Variation of shapes .78 .90
Novel use of materials .79 .96
Technical Cluster
Organization .77 .89
Neatness .92 .82
Expression of Meaning .74 .89

*Picture A topic was “what makes a good day for me”

**Picture B topic was “a time when I sought information”

From Crow 2011.

Using the score of 3.00 as the midpoint of the scale, all five Ugandan informants scored above
the midpoint in creativity, and four of five scored above the midpoint in technical goodness
based on the composite mean scores in each cluster for picture B. The range for the five students’
composite scores was 3.22 to 4.56 in creativity, and 2.89 to 4.67 in technical goodness. Namata,
the only student who scored below midpoint on either of the composite mean scores for
creativity and technical goodness, scored below midpoint in technical goodness only (technical
goodness 2.89).
In the Colorado study eight out of nine informants scored above the midpoint in creativity and
technical goodness based on the composite mean scores for the students’ “best work.” The range
for the eight student’s composite scores was 3.11 to 4.61 in creativity and 3.22 to 4.44 in
technology goodness. Bob was the only student who scored below average on the composite
mean scores, and he scored below the midpoint for both creativity (2.72) and technical goodness
(2.33) (Crow 2011).
As indicated by statements in their interviews as well as by the evaluations of the art teachers,
students in both studies exhibited a tendency toward creativity. Creativity emanates from the self
and, therefore, is by definition intrinsic. Amabile (1979) posited that people who are intrinsically

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motivated for an artistic task exhibit higher levels of creativity than those who are not. It would
seem the salient psychological need satisfied through acts of creativity is autonomy: a person’s
ability to choose what to create and how to create it. “A long tradition of empirical research has
established that personal autonomy is a core characteristic of the creative personality” (Sheldon
1995, 25). Researchers have found that forces such as surveillance, evaluation, rewards,
competition, over-control, restricting choice, and pressure can serve to suppress intrinsic
motivation (Hennessey and Amabile 1987), but these are forces all of us—creative or not—
confront in daily living. The assumption is that creative, autonomous people do not experience
fewer controlling forces but that they are better able to “resist the controlling situational and
intrapersonal forces that can undermine creativity” (Hennessey and Amabile 1987, 25).
The very fact that the Ugandan students were able “to locat[e] and us[e] resources”—basic as
they may seem—for creative expression points both to their independent nature (Bertram and
Pascal 2002, 248) and their desire for creative outlets. The children described their lives as
difficult, which was verified through the environment observed by the researcher. It is interesting
to note that, despite their hardships, the children scored above midpoint for creativity on their
drawings. Ugandan Melissa, however, described how hardships and abuse decreased her desire
to be creative, at least temporarily.
I don’t like to draw anymore. A lady, who doesn’t like me, beat me because she thought I
said insulting words to her, but I did not. When she beat me, I lost interest in doing the
things I like. I hope I want to draw again someday. (Interview with Melissa, June, 2014)
Indeed, difficult life situations can cause children’s creativity to decline (Cropley et al. 2010), yet
researchers have found that “creativity is a robust human trait” (Beghetto 2010) and that such
experiences help to develop resilience, an essential disposition for the effective learner (Bertram
and Pascal 2002). While telling this story, Melissa expressed hope that her inner motivation and
creativity would be restored. In fact, a drawing she did for this study the very next day was
evaluated by the professional judges as above midpoint on the creative dimensions scale.
According to Starko (2014), “the characteristics that allow individuals to be creative [are]
independence, courage, and persistence.” Certainly the life of the Ugandan subjects, indeed their
fight for survival, provided context for developing these characteristics.
Having more access to resources than the Ugandan students, the Coloradan informants’
descriptions of creative activities and their information seeking about many of those topics
indicate that they “engage in information seeking experiences that include the use of creativity…
and that the inclusion of each enhances the intrinsically motivating aspects of the other” (Crow
2011, 26). The data suggest that creativity both contributed to and manifested itself (through
drawing, writing, imaginative play, and technology creations) in intrinsic motivation for
information seeking in the lives of these children in Colorado.

Competence, Competence Building, and Competition

The Ugandan informants described themselves as competent (skipping rope, soccer, dodgeball,
math, sentence structure, writing letters), and they enjoyed these activities both when they won
and lost. In fact, a salient characteristic of this set of informants was the desire and determination
to improve their skills and knowledge. Salim stated that he liked to play soccer whether he won
or lost “because we will be persistent until we win.” Melissa described how she is good at
several class subjects, but not in math, so she asked her mother to give her math problems to get
better. Namata recounted a “good day” is one in which she spends time with her teachers and

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“revising her books [based on their feedback] so that I can be smarter.” All of these examples
point to independent and resilient students who have learned “to bounce back after setback,
hindrance, or frustration and retain temperament, personality, and spirit” (Bertram and Pascal
2002, 249).
Research in Self-Determination Theory purports that people with an autonomy orientation
regulate “behaviour on the basis of interests and self-endorsed values” (Deci and Ryan 2002, 21),
and they use informational feedback to improve their performance and skills. Informational
feedback informs recipients of their competence and shows them what to do to become more
competent. If the feedback gives information to the person about what the person is doing right
or what can be done better, the feedback may increase motivation. However, if the person merely
feels controlled by the giver of the feedback (i.e., if you do what I want I’ll give you a good
grade), that sense of being controlled will counterbalance the effect of informational feedback
and reduce intrinsic motivation (Deci and Ryan 2002). The difference, research shows, is the
interpersonal context surrounding the giving of the feedback. Though it may seem logical that
autonomy-supportive feedback would better fit students of individualistic cultures, recent studies
have shown that autonomy-supportive educational strategies have proved successful in highly
collectivist cultures (Vansteenkiste et al. 2005; Jang et al. 2009). In the case of the Ugandan
students, it is clear that they not only take informational feedback well, they seek it for the
purpose of improving their competence. They have developed the trait of independence “to self-
organize and self-manage” (Bertram and Pascal 2002, 248) as well as make autonomous learning
decisions.
Students in the Colorado study also described many activities they believed they were competent
doing, and subjects about which they believed they were knowledgeable. Only one Coloradan
student’s self-description did not include competence in at least one academic area. Another
prominent characteristic of the Coloradan students was their noncompetitiveness. As an example,
Bailey discussed her involvement in cross-country running and knew that there was a system by
which runners were placed and given rewards, but when asked why she participated she said it
was because she liked the feel of the wind in her hair and that it made her happy to run. Michael
had a passion for the Dallas Cowboys, especially his favorite player Michael Irvin (which is why
he chose “Michael” as his alias). He also liked to play football, but his passion was not for
winning, as evidenced by his lack of concern or even mention of the scores of games, his own
scoring, or the Cowboys’ record; instead, student Michael was passionate about Irvin’s humble
beginnings and how he gave back to his community. Michael also described the fun he had
playing and the times he spent with his dad watching their team on television. Michael’s passion
was based on affiliation, relationships, and the joy of playing but not on competition and
winning.
Competition is a complicated phenomenon in that it can be a source of motivation, either
intrinsic or extrinsic, and sometimes it manifests in actions indicating both. When the emphasis
is on winning, competition becomes a controlling (and therefore extrinsic) force. When the
emphasis is on the informational elements of the activity (such as what the player can do to play
better), it allows participants to gain information that helps them increase their own competence.
“When there is less focus on winning or losing and more focus on playing well in a competitive
situation, there will be less detrimental effects of competition on intrinsic motivation” (Deci and
Ryan 1985, 325). The Coloradan students appeared to have decreased or even blocked out the
controlling factors of competition, and focused primarily on its informational factors in their
various activities, thus enabling themselves to get better and still retain the joy in their play. This

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finding is all the more interesting in light of the competitive nature of the individualistic society
in which they live.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Play Is an Important Contributor to Intrinsic Motivation.

Play was an important contributor to the intrinsic motivational dominance in both the Colorado
Springs and Kampalan informants. The play the students described indicated that their playful
activities contributed to fulfillment of their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, all
components described as contributory to fostering self-motivation (Deci and Ryan 1985). In fact,
both sets of informants not only discussed play often and enthusiastically, they also connected
information seeking with play.
These findings suggest that the play life of children may be an important contributor to their
intrinsic motivation for information seeking, as well as their ability to be independent and
creative. Indeed, times of play are made up of the rare moments when children are the directors
of their own worlds, when they can determine and control their own actions (Ryan, Kuhl, and
Deci 1997). School librarians and teachers can key in on the energy play provides by using
instructional strategies that are playful, such as games and gaming, humor, storytelling, questing,
and inquiry-based learning (Crow and Robins 2012). Information seeking becomes adventurous
play rather than a series of dry assignments. However, a caveat when using playful strategies is
that the educator should strive to keep them playful, deemphasizing rewards, pressure, and the
type of competition that stresses winning rather than getting better—all extrinsic motivators that
have been proven to decrease intrinsic motivation (e.g., Hennessy and Amabile 1987).

Information-Seeking Skills Are Best Built on Students’ Interests and

Creativity.

Students in both Colorado and Uganda described experiences of information seeking

surrounding their interests in varied topics. Teaching information-seeking skills need not be
lessons of drudgery, leading students down the path of producing cookie-cutter projects. Instead,
when educators shift from assignments that direct students to answer teachers’ questions to those
that allow students the freedom to ask their own questions, they are fostering independence and
self-motivation. This is the fuel that will carry students beyond filling in blanks and bubbles on
standardized test forms to finding deeper understandings and developing critical-thinking skills.
Creativity is often thought of as the offspring of art and music classes; however, creativity can be
both the driver of information seeking and a means of manifesting what is discovered. “To raise
new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires imagination
and marks real advances in science” (Dillon 1982, 98). Students develop creative-thinking skills
through brainstorming, problem solving, and disseminating new knowledge, and at the same
time they learn to hone their critical thinking by evaluating the practicality and efficacy of ideas
and solutions (Booth 2013). When school librarians work with classroom and subject teachers to
incorporate creative outlets in project designs—better yet, include art and music teachers in the
collaborations—these librarians are setting up contexts within which students can both express
and develop individual creativity.

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Resiliency Enhances Information Seeking.

While resiliency is a disposition of the effective learner, “research has shown that most parents
and caregivers do not know about resilience or how to promote it in children. Thus, too many
adults inhibit and even thwart the development of resilience” (Grotberg 1993, 1). In an attempt to
improve this situation, the Bernard van Leer Foundation sponsored a study, the International
Resilience Project (IRP), which sought to improve opportunities for young children living in
disadvantaged circumstances. The findings from the IRP were:
• Resilience has both global and culturally/contextually specific aspects.
• Aspects of resilience exert different amounts of influence on a child’s life depending on
the specific culture and context in which resilience is realized.
• Aspects of children’s lives that contribute to resilience are related to one another in
patterns that reflect a child’s culture and context.
• How tensions between individuals and their cultures and contexts are resolved will affect
the way aspects of resilience group together. (Bain et al. 1997, 118–28)
Keeping these points in mind, educators and parents can foster resiliency through the use of
open-ended problems and opportunities for children to seek information without “dumbing
down” or making the process easy, but allowing children to experience challenges in a nurturing
environment. Informational, rather than controlling, feedback can be employed so that students
will learn to maintain self-esteem and develop successful self-regulation. A nurturing
environment combined with monitored experiences eventually leads to the student’s ability to
approach and overcome information-seeking challenges without fear of failure (Bertram and
Pascal 2002). When students encounter a roadblock in their projects, teachers and school
librarians can not only offer new information-seeking paths, but can also coach them toward
resilient reactions and attitudes, helping them to succeed both in school and in life (Moreillon
and Fontichiaro 2008, 66).

Final Comments
The importance of our students becoming effective 21st-centruy learners cannot be overstated.
Undoubtedly, knowing subject content, as evidenced by doing well on standardized tests and
other outcome-based measures, is important. However, studies show that critical to children’s
future success—even their very survival—is “their social, attitudinal and affective learning . . .
[all] powerful indicators of long term achievement in children” (Bertram and Pascal 2002). Key
to these enabling “super skills” (Ball 1994) are independence, creativity, self-motivation, and
resilience, all dispositions needed to become effective information seekers as well as effective
learners. By providing student-centered inquiry opportunities, thoughtful and autonomy-
supportive feedback, and by knowing about and relating to individual students, teachers and
school librarians can foster the dispositions that will enable students of all cultures to become
lifelong learners.

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 The Dispositions of Elementary School Children Volume 19| ISSN: 2165-1019

Cite This Article

Crow, Sherry, and Lisa Kastello. “The Dispositions of Elementary School Children of
Individualistic and Collectivist Cultures Who Are Intrinsically Motivated to Seek
Information.” <http://www.ala.org/aasl/slr/volume19/crow-kastello>

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