This concept - the need for ability grouping, and the idea that gifted people are, in fact, different - gets lost in the mindset literature.
This. You often see Dweck's work stretched out by others... to the point of some people claiming that giftedness does not exist and it's merely a social, elitist construct because anyone can "grow" to be smarter.
It's almost a blame the victim mentality - "it's all the gifted kid's fault if he doesn't succeed - he knows he's gifted, that creates a fixed mindset, so he doesn't push himself. The schools are blameless. If no one told him he was gifted, he would push himself to succeed."
It's a simplistic and false dichotomy that may not be what Dweck intended at all, but seems to be what is emerging in some of the articles out there, and may be absorbed by teachers and school districts.
It's assuming that the cause of a fixed mindset is knowledge of one's own giftedness. I would argue that not being challenged is far more toxic and more likely to lead one into a fixed mindset.
I'm sure, after listening to that interview (thanks for the link, longcut!) that Dweck does not intend to imply that dichotomy. However, phrases such as "stuck in that gifted fixed mindset" (see 37:11 elapsed) don't really help the cause. They make giftedness sound almost inevitable to having a fixed mindset unless you take loads of precautionary measures.
