Coaching an Infant to Develop into an 'English Gentleman' – Does It Justify the Investment?

"A family residing in the northern part of London wants to find an exceptional and skilled instructor to support their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."

Upon seeing this post, you might readily skip the phrase "initial stages" as simple figurative language.

However, it may be the most important element of this unique job advert, as it seeks to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.

Many of applications have now been submitted since the unidentified family advertised their request for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".

Over the last few weeks, the advert has gained notice in the news, with numerous questioning why?

Forward-Thinking Method

A tutoring expert, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, said that despite initial doubt, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "progressive".

When he spoke with the family, he noted they understood the atypical character of their demand, and how early in age their son is.

However, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had by then set in".

But what does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?

It's "everything", he responded. "The way you eat, the way you speak".

He said the firstborn had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their younger child.

The plan: To bring in a UK tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.

Subtle Influence

"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is kind of osmotic," stated Adam.

It's through this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will adopt the British traits they want to cultivate.

The consultant noted the tutor needed to be someone who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".

"The tutor must be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.

Expense Not a Factor

The family informed Adam the chosen tutor should preferably also have understanding of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, the arts and music so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.

Additionally though, he stated the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".

In the family's minds, helping their son become a "British gentleman" will bring about success and open doors.

"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.

However, despite all this instruction in "English culture", could the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?

"Absolutely", replied the CEO. "The parents know this may not work, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he stated.

Impractical

Several in the tutoring industry who share those reservations.

Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides personal educators, stated that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."

He noted that he had emigrated from China to the UK at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He progressed to study at a prestigious UK institution.

"The concept that a single person can serve as a living vessel of UK identity, a person who can possibly transplant the attributes of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and unfeasible," he wrote.

"In my experience, engaging a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will will not automatically achieve the result they desire.

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

He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity can not be forced from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."

Purchasing UK Culture

Of course, Britishness is something the expert believes can be taught – and sold.

"I believe the situation that the world regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating