Tutoring a Baby to Become an 'British Gentleman' – Is It Worth the Money?
"Parents based in North London is looking for an exceptional and skilled educator to assist their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might readily overlook the term "beginning" as mere an expression.
However, it might be the most important aspect of this unique employment listing, as it aims to find a teacher for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have already been received since the unnamed family posted their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the post has received interest throughout the news, with numerous asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their hunt, explained that notwithstanding early scepticism, he found the plan "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the unusual character of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
However, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had by then set in".
But what does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam answered. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the elder child had adopted "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed him they hoped to prevent the same situation to recur with their infant.
The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the start here is rather acquired indirectly," said Adam.
It's through this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.
He said the tutor must be an individual who went to "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Money No Object
The family told him the selected educator should preferably also have knowledge of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, the arts and music so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
More than that though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and starting 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 bring about achievement and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he notes.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", could the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the international family he lives with regardless?
"Yes", replied Adam. "The parents understand this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as early as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he said.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who share those doubts.
An education leader, chief executive of a tutoring service, who also offer private tutors, stated that "the process of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised knowing and practicing both cultures. He went on to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that a single person can function as a representation of Britishness, an individual who can somehow transfer the qualities of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly English tutor from early childhood will not necessarily achieve the result they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to experience several of the situations they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity cannot be imposed from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, English culture is something Adam thinks can be instructed – and marketed.
"I think the situation that the global community views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating