Educating a Toddler to Become an 'British Gentleman' – Is It Worth the Investment?

"A household located in North London wants to find an exceptional and experienced educator to guide their most junior child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."

When reading this post, you might readily skip the wording "initial stages" as just figurative language.

Yet, it could be the crucial aspect of this unique job advert, as it seeks to find a tutor for a infant.

Many of responses have now been received since the unidentified family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".

During the past few weeks, the advert has gained attention across the press, with numerous wondering why?

Innovative Idea

A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their hunt, stated that notwithstanding early scepticism, he considered the concept "visionary", and "innovative".

When he consulted the family, he said they understood the unusual nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.

However, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then set in".

What precisely did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?

It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "How you eat, the manner you speak".

He said the older sibling had adopted "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed him they did not want the same situation to recur with their new baby.

The intention: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to guide the baby from day one.

Subtle Influence

"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is rather absorbed naturally," stated the CEO.

It's through this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will adopt the UK customs they aim to cultivate.

The consultant said the tutor had to be somebody who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".

"The instructor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he commented.

Money No Object

The family told him the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, winter sports, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.

Additionally though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an tool by the time they are about three years old".

In the family's perspective, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will bring about success and create opportunities.

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

Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "English culture", could the child adopt so-called cultural leaning from the international family he is raised by regardless?

"Certainly", said Adam. "They understand this could fail, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he explained.

Overly Optimistic

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

Another CEO, chief executive of a tutoring service, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."

Peter noted that he had relocated from Asia to the UK at the time of seven, and had been raised understanding and living both cultures. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.

"The notion that one individual can act as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can in some way transplant the attributes of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he stated.

"In my experience, employing a typically British tutor from babyhood will not instantly produce the result they want.

"I never had such a figure, and yet I have been privileged enough to live many of the situations they aspire for their son."

He stated: "The truth is, self-identity can not be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."

Buying Britishness

Naturally, English culture is something the expert hopes can be educated – and commercialized.

"I think the fact that the world views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating