Educating a Toddler to Grow into an 'British Gentleman' – Does It Justify the Cost?
"A family located in North London is looking for an extraordinary and skilled educator to assist their youngest child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might easily skip the term "beginning" as simple an expression.
Yet, it might be the crucial element of this distinctive job advert, as it attempts to find a tutor for a one-year-old.
Many of applications have already been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has attracted interest in the press, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding first scepticism, he found the plan "visionary", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they recognized the atypical character of their request, and how young their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had by then set in".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He said the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family told Adam they did not want the same situation to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the development at the start here is rather acquired indirectly," explained the expert.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to instil.
The consultant noted the tutor must be an individual who went to "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told him the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son become a "British gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he adds.
However, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "Britishness", would the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Absolutely", replied the CEO. "The parents understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the education sector who express these concerns.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
Peter wrote that he had moved from China to the Britain at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated experiencing and living dual heritages. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that one individual can serve as a embodiment of UK identity, someone who can possibly transplant the characteristics of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he stated.
"In my experience, having a typically British tutor from infancy will does not instantly produce the result they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and however I have been lucky enough to enjoy numerous of the situations they hope for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, self-identity can not be dictated from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, English culture is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and marketed.
"In my view the reality that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating