How do you teach a growth mindset? Does rewarding risk taking work?

In Vermont, we have a particular interest in the rural poor. However, many colleges focus on the urban poor.

The NY Times had a fantastic article on character education.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/magazine/what-if-the-secret-to-success-is-failure.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

I especially like the discussion about moral character vs performance character. Should we be teaching students to share with others and help each other (moral traits) or to have grit and optimism (high performance traits)?