Are some people born naturally more intelligent than others? Or, is intelligence a characteristic that can be nurtured?

The nature vs nurture debate on intelligence is contentious. While it is generally agreed that both hereditary and environment account for a person’s intelligence, the jury’s still out on the side that has a stronger influence.

At Five Tuition, we prefer to think of intelligence as an adjective to describe an action a person does rather than as an adjective to describe a person. As an organisation with a mission to help students succeed in school and in life, it is far more helpful to identify actions that lead to successful outcomes. It would then be possible to teach these intelligent actions to students, for them to practise them and, eventually personalise them in their given contexts.