Educating a Toddler to Develop into an 'English Gentleman' – Does It Justify the Money?
"A household based in the northern part of London wants to find an exceptional and skilled instructor to support their most junior child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might easily miss the term "beginning" as simple an expression.
Yet, it could be the most important element of this unusual position posting, as it aims to find a mentor for a infant.
Hundreds of submissions have since been sent in since the anonymous family advertised their call for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has received interest in the media, with many questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding first scepticism, he considered the plan "visionary", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unusual nature of their request, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already become established".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", he answered. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the older sibling had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family explained to him they wished to avoid the same situation to repeat itself with their new baby.
The intention: To bring in a UK tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the start here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained the expert.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they wish to instil.
Adam said the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed the expert the successful candidate should preferably also have understanding of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, skiing, creative fields and music so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son become a "British gentleman" will bring about achievement and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he adds.
But, despite all this instruction in "UK identity", could the child pick up alleged cultural leaning from the international family he is raised by in any case?
"Certainly", said Adam. "The family know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the tutoring industry who share these doubts.
An education leader, head and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer individual instructors, commented that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
He wrote that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been brought up knowing and practicing both cultures. He progressed to study at Cambridge University.
"The notion that a single person can act as a embodiment of UK identity, a person who can in some way impart the characteristics of a English gentleman to a 12-month-old child, seems to me naive and unrealistic," he commented.
"Based on my background, employing a distinctly British tutor from early childhood will will not instantly create the result they desire.
"I did not have such a tutor, and however I have been lucky enough to experience numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, self-identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something the CEO thinks can be taught – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the international society regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating