Educating a Toddler to Develop into an 'British Gentleman' – Is It Worth the Cost?
"Parents based in north London wants to find an exceptional and qualified educator to support their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might easily miss the phrase "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the most important element of this unique job advert, as it seeks to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have already been received since the anonymous family posted their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received interest throughout the media, with numerous wondering why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their hunt, explained that in spite of first skepticism, he found the concept "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional aspect of their demand, and how young their son is.
But, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already taken hold".
But what did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam responded. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He said the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family told the consultant they did not want history to recur with their infant.
The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the beginning here is rather acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will acquire the UK customs they want to cultivate.
Adam said the tutor must be an individual who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in riding, skiing, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Additionally though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about success and provide access.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he adds.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "English culture", might the child absorb what is termed cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with regardless?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "The family understand this could fail, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the private teaching field who express these reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of a tutoring service, who supplies personal educators, commented that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had emigrated from China to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been educated understanding and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can act as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can in some way transfer the characteristics of a British gentleman upon a infant child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will not automatically produce the goal they want.
"I never had such a tutor, and yet I have been privileged enough to experience many of the experiences they hope for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity can not be forced from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, English culture is something the expert thinks can be taught – and commercialized.
"I think the fact that the world regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating