Educating a Toddler to Develop into an 'English Gentleman' – Does It Justify the Investment?

"A family located in north London is looking for an extraordinary and experienced tutor to assist their youngest child on his initial journey to growing into an English gentleman."

Looking at this listing, you might naturally miss the term "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.

However, it may be the most significant part of this distinctive job advert, as it attempts to recruit a tutor for a one-year-old.

Numerous of submissions have since been sent in since the unnamed family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".

Over the last few weeks, the advert has received attention in the press, with several questioning why?

Innovative Idea

Adam Caller, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that in spite of initial doubt, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "progressive".

When he consulted the family, he noted they recognized the unusual character of their request, and how immature their son is.

However, they clarified 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 age "cultural conditioning had already set in".

But what did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?

It's "everything", he answered. "How you eat, the way you speak".

He said the older sibling had adopted "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they did not want this pattern to repeat itself with their infant.

The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who must speak with RP, to shape the baby right from the beginning.

Subtle Influence

"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is somewhat acquired indirectly," said the expert.

It's via this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to impart.

Adam explained the tutor needed to be an individual who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".

"The educator must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.

Expense Not a Factor

The family told the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of interests.

Additionally though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register 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 perspective, guiding their son become a "UK sophisticate" will result in accomplishment and create opportunities.

"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he comments.

Yet, in spite of all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child absorb alleged cultural influence from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?

"Certainly", answered the CEO. "The parents understand this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and we should start as early as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.

Idealistic and Unrealistic

There are some in the education sector who have these reservations.

An education leader, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not designed."

He wrote that he had relocated from China to the UK at the period of seven, and had been educated experiencing and practicing two backgrounds. He continued to learn at a prestigious UK institution.

"The concept that one individual can function as a embodiment of UK identity, an individual who can possibly impart the attributes of a UK sophisticate upon a 12-month-old child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he wrote.

"Based on my background, employing a typically UK tutor from infancy will does not automatically produce the result they desire.

"I did not have that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."

He stated: "The truth is, personal identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."

Buying Britishness

Of course, Britishness is something the expert believes can be instructed – and commercialized.

"I think the reality that the global community regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating