Tutoring an Infant to Become an 'British Gentleman' – Does It Justify the Cost?

"Parents residing in North London is looking for an remarkable and qualified tutor to support their smallest child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."

Upon seeing this advertisement, you might naturally miss the term "initial stages" as mere an expression.

However, it might be the most significant aspect of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.

Hundreds of applications have since been received since the unidentified family posted their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".

During the past few weeks, the post has gained notice in the news, with several asking why?

Innovative Idea

A tutoring expert, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that notwithstanding first scepticism, he viewed the plan "forward-looking", and "advanced".

When he spoke with the family, he noted they understood the unconventional nature of their request, and how young their son is.

However, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then set in".

But what did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?

It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "How you eat, the way you speak".

He explained the elder child had picked up "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family told him they wished to avoid this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.

The plan: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.

Osmotic Learning

"A lot of the development at the start here is kind of absorbed naturally," said Adam.

It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to instil.

The consultant said the tutor had to be someone who went to "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".

"The educator must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he added.

Cost Not Relevant

The family told him the selected educator should preferably also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, alpine skiing, the arts and music so as to shape the child in a wide range of passions.

Additionally though, he said the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a range of classes 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, assisting their son develop into a "British gentleman" will bring about success and open doors.

"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.

However, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "Britishness", would the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he lives with regardless?

"Yes", replied the CEO. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he explained.

Overly Optimistic

There are some in the education sector who share similar doubts.

An education leader, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, commented that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."

Peter explained that he had relocated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been educated experiencing and living two backgrounds. He went on to study at the University of Cambridge.

"The notion that one individual can act as a living vessel of UK identity, someone who can possibly impart the characteristics of a UK sophisticate to a infant child, appears naive and unfeasible," he commented.

"In my experience, having a typically English tutor from infancy will does not instantly create the result they hope for.

"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live several of the experiences they desire for their son."

He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be dictated from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."

Buying Britishness

Certainly, Britishness is something the expert hopes can be instructed – and sold.

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