Educating a Toddler to Become an 'British Gentleman' – Does It Justify the Money?

"A family based in the northern part of London wants to find an extraordinary and qualified tutor to guide their most junior child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."

Upon seeing this advertisement, you might readily skip the wording "first-steps" as mere an expression.

Yet, it may be the most significant part of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.

Numerous of submissions have since been submitted since the anonymous family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".

In recent few weeks, the advert has received attention in the press, with numerous asking why?

Forward-Thinking Method

A tutoring expert, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, explained that in spite of initial doubt, he found the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".

When he spoke with the family, he said they recognized the atypical nature of their requirement, and how immature their son is.

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

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

It's "everything", Adam replied. "How you eat, the manner you speak".

He explained the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they wished to avoid the same situation to repeat itself with their infant.

The intention: To bring in a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from day one.

Osmotic Learning

"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is rather osmotic," stated Adam.

It's via this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will acquire the British traits they want to instil.

He said the tutor needed to be someone who attended "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".

"The educator simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he added.

Cost Not Relevant

The family told him the chosen tutor should preferably also have knowledge of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of passions.

Additionally though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are around three years old".

In the family's perspective, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will bring about success and provide access.

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

Yet, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "English culture", could the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?

"Absolutely", answered the CEO. "The parents understand this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he explained.

Idealistic and Unrealistic

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

Another CEO, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."

The expert noted that he had emigrated from Asia to the UK at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised experiencing and living dual heritages. He progressed to learn at a prestigious UK institution.

"The idea that one individual can function as a living vessel of Britishness, someone who can in some way impart the attributes of a UK sophisticate upon a 12-month-old child, seems to me idealistic and impractical," he commented.

"Based on my background, engaging a typically English tutor from infancy will does not automatically create the outcome they hope for.

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

He stated: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."

Acquiring Englishness

Of course, Britishness is something the expert believes can be educated – and marketed.

"I think the reality that the global community regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating