Tutoring an Infant to Develop into an 'British Gentleman' – Does It Justify the Money?
"A family based in the northern part of London wants to find an exceptional and skilled tutor to assist their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might readily overlook the term "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the crucial aspect of this unique job advert, as it seeks to recruit a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have already been received since the unidentified family published their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the post has gained attention throughout the news, with several questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their search, stated that despite first doubt, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he noted they understood the unconventional aspect of their demand, and how young their son is.
But, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already become established".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", Adam responded. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He stated the elder child had absorbed "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family explained to him they wished to avoid this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To engage a UK tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is kind of osmotic," said the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to cultivate.
The consultant said the tutor had to be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator must be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of interests.
Furthermore though, he explained the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will result in achievement and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he notes.
But, notwithstanding all this guidance in "UK identity", could the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the globally influenced family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", replied he. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the private teaching field who have those reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the process of becoming bicultural, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had relocated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the period of 7 years old, and had been educated knowing and living both cultures. He continued to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that one individual can function as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can somehow transplant the qualities of a English gentleman upon a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, engaging a distinctly British tutor from infancy will will not instantly achieve the result they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience many of the situations they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, personal identity cannot be imposed from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be taught – and commercialized.
"In my view the situation that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating