Educating an Infant to Grow into an 'English Gentleman' – Does It Justify the Money?
"Parents located in north London wants to find an remarkable and experienced instructor to guide their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily miss the phrase "beginning" as simple an expression.
However, it may be the most important element of this distinctive employment listing, as it seeks to hire a teacher for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have already been submitted since the anonymous family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received notice in the press, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their search, said that in spite of initial scepticism, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he said they recognized the atypical aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already become established".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He said the older sibling had adopted "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family informed the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To bring in a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the learning at the outset here is somewhat acquired indirectly," stated Adam.
It's through this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will pick up the British traits they aim to cultivate.
Adam said the tutor needed to be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, skiing, the arts and music so as to influence the child in a diverse set of interests.
More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son become a "British gentleman" will result in achievement and provide access.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
However, despite all this instruction in "English culture", might the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the international family he resides with regardless?
"Certainly", answered the CEO. "They know this may not work, but they've just taken the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the education sector who express those doubts.
Peter Cui, head and founder of Blue Education, who also offer personal educators, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
He noted that he had emigrated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the period of seven, and had been educated knowing and living two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The concept that one individual can serve as a living vessel of UK identity, an individual who can possibly impart the qualities of a British gentleman to a one-year-old child, strikes me as idealistic and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly UK tutor from infancy will will not instantly produce the result they desire.
"I never had such a tutor, and however I have been lucky enough to enjoy many of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, self-identity can not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, English culture is something the expert believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the global community regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating