Educating a Toddler to Develop into an 'British Gentleman' – Is It Worth the Investment?
"A family residing in north London wants to find an exceptional and experienced educator to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might naturally skip the term "initial stages" as mere a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the most important aspect of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to find a teacher for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have since been sent in since the unnamed family published their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained notice throughout the news, with numerous wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, said that despite early doubt, he considered the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he noted they appreciated the unusual nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.
But, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already set in".
But what did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", he answered. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the firstborn had absorbed "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family informed him they did not want this pattern to happen again with their younger child.
The plan: To engage a UK tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the development at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," said the CEO.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will adopt the British traits they want to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor must be an individual who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or passion in equestrian activities, winter sports, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and open doors.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", would the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Absolutely", said the CEO. "The family realize this could fail, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as early as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who have those doubts.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies personal educators, stated that "the process of embracing two identities, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
The expert explained that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been educated knowing and practicing dual heritages. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that one individual can serve as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can somehow transfer the qualities of a English gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and unrealistic," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will will not necessarily produce the outcome they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and however I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity can not be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be instructed – and sold.
"I think the reality that the international society views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating