Coaching a Baby to Grow into an 'English Gentleman' – Does It Justify the Cost?

"A family located in North London wants to find an remarkable and qualified educator to guide their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."

Upon seeing this post, you might naturally overlook the phrase "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.

However, it may be the most important part of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to find a mentor for a one-year-old.

Hundreds of submissions have already been received since the unnamed family posted their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".

Over the last few weeks, the advert has attracted notice in the media, with several wondering why?

Progressive Approach

Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding initial doubt, he considered the idea "visionary", and "innovative".

When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical character of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.

However, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then set in".

What precisely does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?

It's "everything", he answered. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".

He stated the elder child had absorbed "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent the same situation to recur with their infant.

The strategy: To hire a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.

Natural Absorption

"Much of the education at the outset here is rather absorbed naturally," said Adam.

It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they wish to instil.

He noted the tutor must be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".

"The educator just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he added.

Expense Not a Factor

The family told him the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a wide range of interests.

More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".

In the family's view, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about accomplishment and open doors.

"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he notes.

But, despite all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with regardless?

"Absolutely", said he. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he said.

Idealistic and Unrealistic

A number of in the private teaching field who have similar concerns.

Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, wrote that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."

He explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of childhood, and had been educated experiencing and practicing both cultures. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.

"The notion that one individual can act as a embodiment of English culture, an individual who can possibly transfer the qualities of a English gentleman onto a infant child, seems to me naive and unrealistic," he commented.

"In my experience, having a typically British tutor from early childhood will does not instantly create the result they desire.

"I did not have such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience several of the experiences they hope for their son."

He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity should not be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."

Purchasing UK Culture

Naturally, UK identity is something Adam thinks can be taught – and marketed.

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