Honors Summer Read 2017: Rules of Engagement

"The Submissive Reader" (1928) by Rene Magritte

Welcome to the ECU Honors Program's Enduring Questions website!  If you are enrolled in an Enduring Questions class for the fall semester of 2017 at ECU (EQ1 or EQ3), this website is for you.  Read on!

Responses to questions on this website are designed to generate "virtual conversation." By virtual, we do not mean something that looks like conversation but isn't. Instead, we mean REAL conversation in a virtual environment--this website.  And this fall, incoming first- and second-year Honors students will be engaged in the same discussion. Ten percent of each student's grade in both EQ1 and EQ3 will be based on your responses to the questions raised here.

The sort of conversation we're looking for is academic in character. Thus, your responses should consist of clear, concise statements of your ideas crafted in standard English (not text-speak--some of us are old!). They should be long enough to convey your thoughts, but short enough for other readers to read and respond to fairly quickly. In short, you don't want your responses to be so long that you monopolize (or kill) the conversation by going on, and on, and on.....(we all know how irritating that can be!).

Obviously, responses should not use profanity. They should be civil and respectful. People do not always agree. Responses can be critical; however, all communication is expected to be courteous and professional. Contributor's positions may be questioned; their character should not.

The object here is to reflect on some of the issues raised by the text, to connect the reading to your personal experience, and to help first- and second-year Honors students get to know each other better.

When should I begin posting my responses?
As soon as you have read the opening pages of Mindset.

When is this assignment due?
This writing assignment is designed to be completed before classes begin.  Details about where and how to account for and submit your word count total will be provided in class when the semester starts.

How many questions should I respond to?

We do not expect you to respond to each question, but you should respond to several representing different sections of the book.

How much should I write?

Your responses should add up to a sum total of not less than 750 words.  Don't try to load up all 750 words into one or two comments.  You should also respond to comments left by other readers. And pose questions to other readers. (Check back later to see if anyone has responded to your comments-and respond to their responses.)  All of this writing will count toward your word total.  Students are responsible for keeping track of their word total (you can cut and paste your responses into a Microsoft Word document, which has a word count feature).  This is not just a writing assignment, though; it's a reading assignment, too.  Every student is responsible for reading every word of the assigned text.

Where do I post my responses?
At the bottom of each question post, you will find a "comment" link. If it has a "0" beside it, that means no one has commented yet; as more people comment, the number will go up. When you're ready to weigh in, click on the "comments" button, read any previous comments, and start writing. Please sign your posts. And use your real name--not a nickname--so we can get to know each other).

More questions?
E-mail us at sbenton@ecok.edu!

Engaging Mindset

In this post, you will find links to about several question sets about Carol S. Dweck's Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. These question sets, written by Drs. Benton and Draper, are organized by chapter and are listed in the order in which the issues they address are raised by the text.

There's also a sandbox where you can raise your own questions about the text that are not covered elsewhere (and answer those posed by others).

Once you've started reading the chapters listed below, click on the links, read the corresponding questions and comments other readers may have left (click on the "comment" button beneath each post to see them), and then join the discussion (or initiate it).

There is only one question that every student is required to answer.  That's the last one, referred to here as "The Takeaway." Don't answer it until you've finished reading the book.

Before you Being

Self Portrait

Carol S. Dweck

Chapter One: Mindsets

Questions: 1.1,  1.2

Chapter Two: Inside the Mindsets

Questions: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6

Chapter Three: The Truth about Ability and Accomplishment

Questions: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4

Chapter Four: The Mindset of a Champion

Questions: 4.1, 4.2

Chapter Five: Mindset and Leadership

Questions: 5.1, 5.2

Chapter Six: Mindsets in Love (or Not)

Questions:  6.1, 6.2

Chapter Seven: Parents, Teachers, and Coaches: Where do Mindsets Come from?

Questions: 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6

Chapter Eight: Changing Mindsets

Questions: 8.1, 8.2, 8.3

The Playlist

The Sandbox

The Takeaway

Self Portrait

"Self Portrait" (1935) by George Chirico

Before beginning the reading, it may be useful to reflect on your answers to the following questions:

a)  What are you good at? What are your strengths?

b)  What are you bad at? What are your weaknesses?

c)  Recount a time that you worked hard at something and did not see much improvement.

d)  Recount a time that you worked hard at something and improved a lot.

Share your answers in the comments area below, if you're up for it.

1.1 Epic fail

"Defeated. Requiem" (1878) by Vasily Veraschagin

In the first paragraph of the text, Dweck reveals that as a young researcher she was "obsessed with understanding how people cope with failure" (4).

Think about the people you have grown up with and gone to school with. Without naming names, how would you characterize their responses to failure?  Have you noticed a tendency to blame others? Or a tendency to blame a lack of innate ability?

Do you know many people who tend to claim that the things they failed at are unimportant to them? What about people who resent the success of others? Or people who talk a lot about their failures or are failures the kind of thing people try to move past as quickly as possible?

Some people associate failure with shame. Do you think shame is ever a constructive emotion?

Most of the posts on this website include a cluster of questions like those above. You do not need to answer them all.  Feel free to answer any particular questions that push you to reflect more deeply on the relevant issue.

1.2 I Believe I Can Fly

"The Fall of Icarus" (1975) by Marc Chagall

According to Dweck, "studies show that people are terrible at estimating their abilities" (11). She goes on to suggest that almost all the inaccuracy can be attributed to people with a fixed mindset.

Think about the people you went to school with and have grown up with (include yourself). Can you describe someone (without naming names) who either seriously underestimated his or her ability or who seriously overestimated it?

Generally speaking, would you say that understimating your ability is worse than overestimating it?

What is the difference between underestimating your ability and being humble? What is the difference between overestimating your ability and being optimistic?

Do you know anyone whose public statements about their ability did not coincide with their actual beliefs?

2.1 I was a Teenage Werewolf

Publicity photo for "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" (1957)

According to Dweck, "the idea that one evaluation can measure you forever is what creates the urgency for those with the fixed mindset. That's why they must succeed perfectly and immediately" (29).

Think about a moment in your past when your performance or your behavior did not provide a representative measurement of the person you would become. Describe that moment--but resist the temptation to explain how you later became a different person.

For example, you might explain that in the fifth grade your elementary school had two, nine-member boys relay teams, which ended up including most of the students in your grade, but you were not fast enough to be on it, but resist the temptation to describe any subsequent successes you enjoyed as an athlete.  OR describe what a slacker you were at school in the 9th grade, but resist the temptation to describe the work ethic you developed at a later date.

How did you feel about yourself at the moment you describe? Did other people learn to expect a certain kind of behavior from you?

2.2 Don't Blame it on the Boogie

Dweck characterizes John McEnroe and Jeffrey Skilling as initially successful people who had a bad habit of blaming other people whenever they experienced failure of any kind.

Can you describe a moment in your past when you blamed a failure or a shortcoming on someone else or bad luck or unfair circumstances (or "the boogie"), but later you came to accept that the fault was mostly yours?

If so, what factors led to the change in your understanding or your acceptance of your responsibility?  Did other people help you realize that your analysis was wrong or is it something that you had to come to entirely on your own?

2.3 Free to Be Me

Bluto (John Belushi) from "Animal House" (1978)

Dweck writes that "The fixed mindset creates the feeling that you can really know the permanent truth about yourself. And this can be comforting" (50).

Young adults, in particular, may feel drawn to the process of defining their identity. After having grown up in the shadow of their parents' values, habits, and talents, young adults often welcome the freedoms of high school and especially college which give them an opportunity to define the tastes and talents that make them unique as individuals.

Given the appeal of such an identity-discovery process, is it wise to encourage young adults to forego the comforts of defining "permanent truths" about their "true" identity (i.e. "the real you") out of fear that a premature definition will limit their potential futures?

Along similar lines, should universities require students to take general education courses that are designed in part to "expand their horizons" if students feel that they already know what they want to major in?

2.4 A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

"Arrangement in Black and Red" (1980) by Leon Polk Smith*

According to Dweck, "we're all a mixture of fixed and growth mindsets" (47).

Can you identify a sliding scale between the two mindsets in your own life?

Do you have a growth mindset for sports or art or academics but not something else, for example?

*Leon Polk Smith--who painted the image above--is a world famous artist who graduated from ECU.  You can read more about him here.

2.5 Change Gonna Come

"She Felt Herself Changing" (1913) by Charles Robinson

According to Dweck, "The growth mindset doesn't mean that everything that can be changed should be changed. We all need to accept some of our imperfections, especially the ones that don't really harm our lives or the lives of others" (50).

If you are trying to cultivate a growth mindset by making changes in your life, how do you know what to change?

2.6 I've Been Mindsetted

"Hypnotic Vibes" (1970) by Gianni Sarcone

Dweck repeatedly indicates she and her fellow researchers “put” people into different mindsets before collecting data (51). Do you think it is possible,  fair—or even ethical—to “put” people into mindsets for research purposes?

If you can “put” someone into a mindset by telling them a set of expectations, as Dweck says she and her fellow researchers do, to what extent can any of us every truly have our own mindset?

To what extent can we be “forced” into a particular mindset by the expectations loaded onto us by outside forces like parents, professors, bosses, or the culture we live in?

Do you think people generally tend to overestimate or underestimate their ability to resist "programming" and make free choices?

3.1 Easy A

Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn) in "Fast Times at Ridgmont High" (1984)

According to Dweck, "students with the fixed mindset tell us that their main goal in school--aside from looking smart--is to exert as little effort as possible. They heartily agree with statements like this:  'In school my main goal is to do things as easily as possible so I don't have to work very hard' " (59).

What would it take to help students focus on improvement and the hard work it requires instead of finding the most efficient way to get a high grade while expending the minimum amount of work? Is this a challenge that teachers can manage or does it depend more on the attitude of the students?

3.2 Embracing challenges and changing interests

"The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp" (1632) by Rembrandt van Rijn 

Dweck suggests that growth mindset individuals are motivated by challenge and that challenge breeds interest. As Dweck puts it, "students with a growth mindset continued to show the same high level of interest [in a difficult chemistry class] even when they found the work very challenging. . . . Challenge and interest go hand in hand" (64).

But does a change in interest in the face of challenge always mean that you do not have a willingness to grow?

How do you know if your choices are fixed- or growth-based? For instance, what if you register as a pre-med student but hate your chemistry class and change majors? Does that choice mean you are of a fixed mindset and don’t believe in growth?

3.3 Victory!

"Wings of Victory" (Early 20th century) by Erte 

Dweck celebrates the successes achieved by the students of Jaime Escalante (the teacher from Stand and Deliver), but doesn't talk about the kinds of effort, experimentation, and failure that proceeded such successes (assuming there were some) (64).

How do we avoid moving from a growth mindset to a fixed mindset if our measurement of the growth mindset is how awesome someone does compared to others?

Isn’t beating the competition the kind of the measure fixed mindset individuals use?

3.4 Judging Mindsets

Marva Collins

Excellent teachers like Marva Collins, as described by Dweck, seem totally devoted to the profession and to the success of their students. But to what extent can we judge someone's mindset by looking at their successes or by their successes in one domain of their life?

Dweck does not mention how well adjusted the teachers like Dweck and Escalante are at home, in dealing with their colleagues, in managing stress. It's possible that these teachers devote so much time and energy to “growing” the students that they constantly fight with their spouses and children or refuse to accept other assignments such as hall duty and committee membership at their jobs or go home and drink excessively because of the high stress. Maybe they display antisocial behavior in other areas and maybe they are completely well-adjusted and broadly-interested citizens. Dweck's book doesn't tell us.

What do you need to know about someone in order to make judgments about their mindset?  Is it possible for someone to have a growth mindset in some domains of their life and still be a failure in others?

Click here and here to learn more about Marva Collins.

4.1 We can't all be Michael Phelps

Michael Phelps, Sports Illustrated cover shoot 

How vulnerable is Dweck's theory of growth mindset to the charge that some people are naturally better suited to certain pursuits than others are?

For instance, Michael Phelps, the truly amazing Olympic swimming champion,  clearly has a much longer wingspan than many people. Say researchers prove that he also has a body chemistry that produces less lactic acid than most people (hence less pain from physical exertion).

If you loved swimming but after practicing with Phelps for a long time and consistently finishing 2 seconds him in every race,  are you a fixed mindset person if you decide Olympic swimming is not your calling, and you should become a dentist instead?

Does this common sense reasoning invalidate Dweck's claims?

4.2 Hard Work Makes Winners?

Muhammad Ali

Dweck describes Muhammad Ali and Marshall Faulk as bright, studious professionals, and she says Michael Jordan is "the hardest working athlete, perhaps in the history of sport" (85). It is often the case, however, that people say African-Americans are naturally better at sports, or particular sports, than representatives of other ethnic groups are.

On the whole, do you think our society underestimates the amount of hard work it takes for athletes--and African American athletes in particular--to succeed in the world of sports?  Or does our society wrongly celebrate the exploits of successful athletes--including African American athletes--who are blessed with natural abilities that they were simply born with?

In what sports are natural ability more important than hard work?

5.1 Resistance is Futile. Resistance is Vital.

"Mob Vengeance" (1930) by Robert Spencer

According to Dweck, "the fixed mindset creates groupthink. . . . Leaders, to bolster their ego, suppress dissent. Or workers, seeking validation from leaders, fall in line behind them" (136). But " a growth mindset--by relieving people of the illusions or the burdens of fixed ability--leads to a full and open discussion of the information and to enhanced decision making" (136).

Think of groups that you have been a part of.  Have you been in a group that seemed to be afflicted by groupthink? How about a group that was paralyzed by dissent and by naysayers who effectively kept the group from accomplishing anything?

What kind of group is more common?

5.2 Mindset State University

"Village School" (c. 1670) by Jan Steen

According to Dweck, an organization can have "a pervasive belief that talent is fixed or, instead, a pervasive belief that talent can and should be developed in all employees" (142)

Do universities have mindsets? How about individual classes? How does mindset play into grading?

Does the existence of an Honors Program suggest that talented students can and should be given more opportunities for development than other students?

How can a school--or a class--be organized in a way that genuinely values and encourages personal development and growth?

6.1 Just the Way You Are

"The Lovers" (1928) by Rene Magritte

It is often said that people should accept the person they are in a relationship with as they are--warts and all--and not hope to change them into someone they are not.

Dweck, however, recommends the views of psychiatrist Aaron Beck, who cautions couples away from "fixed mindset thoughts" such as "My partner is incapable of change. Nothing can improve our relationship" (159).

Think about the people who have grown up with and gone to school with.  Can you describe someone who seemed to change their personality when they were in a relationship?  At what point can you say that change demonstrates growth and maturation and at what point can you say that it represents the betrayal of someone's identity in order to satisfy the expectations of other people?

6.2 Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown . . .

"Poisoning of Queen Matejko" by Jan Matejko (1838-1893)

According to Dweck, "Ego-wise, it's easier to be sympathetic to someone in need. It's your assets and successes that are problems for people who derive their self-esteem from being superior" (166).

Can you describe a moment in your life in which a friend celebrated one of your successes in a way that was fully satisfying and affirming for you?

Alternatively, can you describe a moment in your life when success led to feelings of loneliness or isolation?

Have you ever seen classmates unfairly describe a successful person as arrogant, "stuck up," "full of themselves"?

7.1 The Great Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods in 2013

Dweck tells us about Tiger Woods’ father and that he has said that he didn’t care what Tiger grew up to be, as long as he succeeded at whatever it was he chose to be:  "If Tiger had wanted to be a plumber, I wouldn't have minded, as long as he was a hell of a plumber. The goal was for him to be a good person. He's a great person" (194).

This part of the book was likely written before the news stories about Tiger’s dishonesty, infidelity and alcohol abuse came out in public.

We all have things we’d rather not the whole world know about, but does the fact that Tiger is not always such a “good person” scuttle Dweck’s use of Tiger and his dad as examples?

7.2 Turnovers and Spelling Errors

Coach Bobby Knight and Indiana University player Neil Reed

According to Dweck, focusing on "success experiences" instead of growth (which requires critique) leads to lowering standards.

She adds that lowering standards “just leads to poorly educated students who feel entitled to easy work and lavish praise” (196).

Dweck encourages us to sympathize with Shelia Schwartz who maintains her high standards even when students don't seem to care about attention to detail. Quoting Schwartz, Dweck writes: "One student, whose writing was full of grammatical mistakes and misspellings . . . marched into my office with her husband from West Point--in a dress uniform, his chest covered with ribbons--because her feelings had been hurt by my instance on correct spelling" (196).

Later, however, Dweck denigrates Coach Knight’s insistence that players not make mistakes in high-stakes basketball games.

What is the difference between insisting on flawless spelling and insisting on flawless performance on the basketball court?

If making mistakes and learning from them is what practice is all about, when is wanting to avoid mistakes a bad thing?

Shouldn’t we strive to make no mistakes at times? Wouldn’t growth-mindset teachers expect students to stop making spelling mistakes? Can’t a basketball coach who expects his players not to make mistakes in games be growth-minded?

7.3 Impressive!

"Auguste Reading to Her Daughter" (1910 ) by Mary Cassat

Dweck writes admiringly of how Collins got 3- and 4-year-olds to use high school vocabulary texts, seven-year-olds to read the Wall Street Journal, and fifth graders to read a whole list of advanced literature (201).

But do these expectations match growth-mindedness? Even if the kids can master the mechanical skills—reading the words—does such mastery equal understanding? Is it possible that these teachers are fixed-minded in their outlooks and want to show the world how awesome their students are by training them to do big person tasks?

How can a "growth-minded" person resolve the inherent conflict between valuing growth while remaining leery of focusing on accomplishments that will impress others? Or is there no real conflict between these two goals?

7.4 Brilliant!

"Undiscovered Genius of the Mississippi Delta" (1983) by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Dweck suggests that teachers can turn unmotivated students into growth-minded successes.

She cites Gary who says he’s not going to do any work and Gary’s teacher who says she won’t give up on him.  Quoting Collins, Dweck writes, "If you sit there leaning against this wall all day, you are going to end up leaning on something or someone all your life. And all that brilliance bottled up inside you will go to waste" (203).

In the example, Gary became a wunderkind. Earlier in the text, however, Dweck warned against telling kids they are brilliant because that makes them afraid of making mistakes.

When is it OK for a growth-minded person to praise someone else's talents and abilities and when is such praise likely to be counterproductive?

7.5 It's complicated

"Complex Simple" (1939) by Wassily Kandinsky

According to Dweck,  "The fixed mindset complicates people. It makes them worried about their fixed traits and creates the need to document them, sometimes at your own expense" (205-206).

Does the growth mindset un-complicate people? If so, how so?

7.6 That's Not What I Meant

"The Ship of Fools" (1500) by Hieronymous Bosch

Dweck offers many examples of ways that people have misunderstood what "growth mindset" means.

Why do you think people so often misinterpret this concept?

Which of these misunderstandings do you think is probably the easiest to have?

8.1 Baby, You're No Good

"O Bottom, Thou Art Changed" (1908) by Arthur Rackham

Dweck reports that "cognitive therapy basically teaches people to rein in their extreme judgments and make them more reasonable" (225).  She suggests that people who engage in cognitive therapy may realize that they have a greater potential to develop skills that they had previously dismissed or disregarded as beyond their capacity.

Can you think of a skill, activity, or area of study that you have dismissed as being beyond your capacity that might warrant a second look?  Are there any skills, activities or areas of study that you once dreamed of developing or that you spent some time on but later abandoned--perhaps prematurely--because you decided you lacked the necessary talent? Consider whether your measure of success in this endeavor involves improving your performance or being better than other people. Consider whether the process of improving might itself be valuable or enjoyable independent of any particular achievement that could demonstrate your superiority to others. Can you enjoy an activity that you are, at least initially, "bad" at?

8.2 Please Revise

"Momus Criticizes the Gods' Creations" (1561) Meerten Van Heemskerck

Dweck reports that one of her students was devastated by a reviewer's 10-page, single-spaced criticism of an article she submitted for publication until she changed her attitude about the value of revision and the opportunity for improvement that 10-page work of criticism represented (234).

Have you ever received intense criticism for a paper you've worked hard on?

How did you respond?

From your perspective, how can teachers help students learn to value and take advantage of  criticism of their work?  

8.3 Let Me Tell You About My Weaknesses

"Basket of Bread: Rather Death than Shame" (1945) by Salvador Dali

Dweck describes a hypothetical quarterback who finds success at the highest level of his profession only after he reveals his insecurities to his teammates (239-240).

Have you ever found that sharing insecurities helped you succeed in a difficult endeavor?

Does sharing insecurities come more easily to you than it does to other people you know or is it more difficult for you?

What do you think accounts for the difference between people who have trouble sharing insecurities and those who do not?

Can you think of a situation in which sharing insecurities is counterproductive?

Mindset Playlist

Can you identify any songs whose lyrics reinforce some of the key concepts of Mindset?

Paste YouTube links into the comment box and explain your reasoning.

The Mindset Sandbox

"The Beach at Honfleux" by Claude Monet

Have a question or comment about Mindset that has not been addressed elsewhere on this website?

Bring it to the comment box below.

Mindset Take-Away

So you've read Mindset now. In 100 words or less, identify the part of the book the is most likely to stick with you the longest.

What's your take away?

Don't answer this question until you've finished reading the entire book.