Coaching an Infant to Grow into an 'British Gentleman' – Is It Worth the Money?

"Parents residing in north London seeks an exceptional and qualified tutor to guide their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."

When reading this listing, you might easily miss the phrase "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.

Yet, it could be the crucial aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it attempts to recruit a teacher for a one-year-old.

Numerous of submissions have now been sent in since the anonymous family advertised their call for the highly paid tutor, who must be "someone very special".

Over the last few weeks, the post has received attention in the press, with many questioning why?

Innovative Idea

Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that despite early skepticism, he found the concept "far sighted", and "advanced".

When he consulted the family, he noted they understood the unconventional character of their demand, and how early in age their son is.

Nevertheless, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already taken hold".

What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?

It's "comprehensive", the expert replied. "How you eat, the manner you speak".

He said the firstborn had adopted "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to recur with their infant.

The plan: To hire a British tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from day one.

Subtle Influence

"A lot of the education at the start here is rather osmotic," explained Adam.

It's by means of this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the British traits they wish to impart.

Adam explained the tutor must be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".

"The tutor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he said.

Money No Object

The family told Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of passions.

More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an instrument by the time they are about three years old".

In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "English gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.

"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he notes.

However, despite all this tutelage in "UK identity", would the child adopt so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he lives with regardless?

"Yes", replied the CEO. "They realize this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.

Overly Optimistic

Several in the education sector who have these doubts.

Peter Cui, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who supplies personal educators, wrote that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."

Peter explained that he had moved from China to the UK at the period of 7 years old, and had been raised understanding and practicing dual heritages. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.

"The concept that an individual can serve as a living vessel of Britishness, an individual who can somehow transplant the attributes of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, strikes me as naive and unrealistic," he commented.

"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly UK tutor from infancy will does not automatically produce the outcome they want.

"I did not have such a figure, and however I have been lucky enough to enjoy several of the opportunities they aspire for their son."

He added: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."

Buying Britishness

Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO believes can be taught – and marketed.

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