TITLE: A Case Against the "Math Gene"
QUESTION [94 upvotes]: I'm currently teaching a mathematics course for elementary educators (think of it as math methods, but with less focus on methods and more focus on content). In a student's essay, I encountered the phrase "one is either a 'math person' or not". That is, one's ability to do mathematics is determined at birth. Either your brain is such that you can understand math, or it is not.
This is certainly not a new sentiment, but I find it deeply troubling coming from the mouth of a future elementary educator. How can this person possibly be an effective mathematics teacher if s/he splits every math class into those that can learn math and those that can't?

Are you aware of any articles, studies, etc. that dismiss the notion of the "math gene"?

Preferably, the reference will be short enough to assign as class reading. I think it is too late in the semester to assign an entire book on the subject, though it could be a possibility if I teach this course again.
The primary goal of this reading would be to convince the future teacher that an average student is able to learn math, and so is worthy of being taught seriously. I am not particularly interested in articles that show how this can be accomplished (that is the purpose of their math methods course), just that it is possible to accomplish in the average case.

REPLY [3 votes]: You asked for resources, so I'm posting them in a bulletted list below. These resources appear in the references of  an article (The Mathematics of Hope) written by a Jo Boaler - Stanford professor and leading mathematics educator. 
An interesting research-supported statement in the article is, "One of the most damaging mathematics myths propagated in classrooms and homes is that math is a gift, that some people are naturally good at math and some are not (Boaler 2013a, 2013b). This idea is strangely cherished in the Western world but virtually absent in Eastern countries such as China and Japan that top the world in mathematics achievement (PISA 2012)."
The Mindset book below debunks the "fixed mindset" view of the brain (a belief that people are just naturally good at some things) and shows that a "growth mindset" (a belief that people can improve their abilities through practice) leads to greater success. 

Boaler, J. 2009. What's Math Got to Do With It? How Parents and
Teachers Can Help Children Learn to Love Their Least Favorite
Subject. New York: Penguin.
Boaler, J. 2013a. "Ability and Mathematics: The Mindset Revolution
That Is Reshaping Education." FORUM 55(1): 143–52.
Boaler, J. 2013b. "The Sterotypes That Distort How Americans Teach
and Learn Math." The Atlantic, November 12.
Boaler, J. 2014. "Research Suggests That Timed Tests Cause Math
Anxiety." Teaching Children Mathematics 20(8): 469–74.
Boaler, J. & D. Foster. 2014. "Raising Expectations and Achievement:
The Impact of Wide Scale Mathematics Reform Giving All Students
Access to High Quality Mathematics," http://www.youcubed.org.
Dweck, C. S. 2006. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York:
Ballantine.