Coaching an Infant to Grow into an 'British Gentleman' – Is It Worth the Investment?

"Parents based in North London seeks an extraordinary and skilled educator to assist their smallest child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."

When reading this listing, you might readily miss the wording "beginning" as just an expression.

Yet, it might be the most important part of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to find a mentor for a one-year-old.

Many of responses have now been submitted since the anonymous family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".

In recent few weeks, the listing has gained interest in the press, with several questioning why?

Innovative Idea

The CEO, head and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that despite initial doubt, he found the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".

When he spoke with the family, he said they recognized the unusual character of their request, and how young their son is.

But, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".

What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?

It's "comprehensive", the expert replied. "How you eat, the way you speak".

He said the firstborn had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they did not want this pattern to happen again with their younger child.

The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who should speak with RP, to guide the baby from the very start.

Osmotic Learning

"A lot of the education at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.

It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they wish to instil.

Adam noted the tutor needed to be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".

"The educator just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he added.

Money No Object

The family informed Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.

More than that though, he explained the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".

In the family's perspective, guiding their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about success and provide access.

"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.

However, despite all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?

"Yes", replied he. "The parents understand this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he stated.

Impractical

There are some in the education sector who have similar doubts.

Peter Cui, chief executive of an educational organization, who supplies personal educators, stated that "the development of embracing two identities, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."

The expert wrote that he had relocated from China to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been raised understanding and living both cultures. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.

"The notion that an individual can serve as a living vessel of UK identity, someone who can somehow transfer the characteristics of a UK sophisticate onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he wrote.

"From my perspective, engaging a distinctly British tutor from infancy will will not automatically achieve the result they hope for.

"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been privileged enough to live several of the experiences they aspire for their son."

He stated: "The truth is, self-identity can not be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."

Purchasing UK Culture

Of course, Britishness is something Adam believes can be educated – and sold.

"I believe the reality that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating