Educating a Toddler to Grow into an 'British Gentleman' – Does It Justify the Cost?
"Parents located in north London is looking for an extraordinary and skilled tutor to support their smallest child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might easily skip the phrase "beginning" as mere an expression.
Yet, it could be the most important aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have already been sent in since the anonymous family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has attracted notice throughout the news, with numerous questioning why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, said that in spite of early doubt, he viewed the concept "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already set in".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent the same situation to repeat itself with their infant.
The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is rather osmotic," explained the expert.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to impart.
The consultant explained the tutor needed to be somebody who attended "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family told him the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to shape the child in a wide range of interests.
Furthermore though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son develop into a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he notes.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "UK identity", would the child adopt what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "They know this may not work, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who express those reservations.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, stated that "the process of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
Peter explained that he had moved from China to the United Kingdom at the age of 7 years old, and had been raised experiencing and practicing dual heritages. He went on to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that a single person can serve as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can possibly impart the characteristics of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and unfeasible," he commented.
"Based on my background, employing a typically English tutor from babyhood will not automatically produce the result they want.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and however I have been privileged enough to live several of the situations they hope for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, self-identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, English culture is something Adam thinks can be taught – and commercialized.
"I think the fact that the international society views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating