Educating a Toddler to Become an 'British Gentleman' – Is It Worth the Money?

"Parents residing in North London is looking for an remarkable and experienced educator to support their smallest child on his early path to becoming an English gentleman."

Looking at this post, you might readily miss the wording "initial stages" as just figurative language.

Yet, it could be the crucial element of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.

Numerous of applications have already been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".

In recent few weeks, the advert has attracted notice in the media, with many asking why?

Forward-Thinking Method

Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their search, explained that despite early skepticism, he viewed the concept "visionary", and "advanced".

When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the unusual nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.

But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had by then set in".

What precisely does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?

It's "everything", the expert responded. "How you eat, the way you speak".

He stated the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family explained to him they did not want this pattern to recur with their younger child.

The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.

Subtle Influence

"A lot of the learning at the outset here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained Adam.

It's through this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will adopt the British traits they wish to instil.

The consultant noted the tutor needed to be someone who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".

"The instructor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he added.

Expense Not a Factor

The family explained to the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or passion in equestrian activities, winter sports, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.

Additionally though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".

In the family's perspective, assisting their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to achievement and open doors.

"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he adds.

But, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he resides with anyway?

"Absolutely", replied the CEO. "They know this might not succeed, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he said.

Overly Optimistic

There are some in the tutoring industry who express similar concerns.

An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who also offer individual instructors, commented that "the process of becoming bicultural, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."

He explained that he had emigrated from China to the United Kingdom at the time of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and living both cultures. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.

"The idea that one individual can serve as a representation of UK identity, a person who can possibly transfer the attributes of a British gentleman to a one-year-old child, appears naive and impractical," he wrote.

"Based on my background, having a distinctly British tutor from early childhood will not instantly create the result they hope for.

"I did not have such a figure, and however I have been lucky enough to experience many of the situations they hope for their son."

He continued: "The fact is, cultural identity can not be imposed from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."

Buying Britishness

Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be instructed – and commercialized.

"In my view the situation that the world regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating