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

Child education concept
The organization responsible for the listing claims that what looks like "luxury or peculiarity" is actually "deliberate investment in early-stage learning".

"A family located in North London seeks an remarkable and skilled tutor to assist their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."

Upon seeing this advertisement, you might naturally skip the wording "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.

But, it could be the most important part of this unique employment listing, as it attempts to recruit a mentor for a infant.

Many of applications have since been submitted since the unidentified family advertised their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".

Over the last few weeks, the post has gained attention across the news, with many asking why?

Forward-Thinking Method

Adam Caller, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their quest, said that in spite of early skepticism, he considered the idea "forward-looking", and "innovative".

When he consulted the family, he said they understood the unusual aspect of their demand, and how immature their son is.

However, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had by then set in".

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

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

He said the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family informed the consultant they wished to avoid this pattern to recur with their new baby.

The plan: To engage a UK tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.

Tutoring discussion
The education firm claim the advert has started a larger debate about how families regard learning, elitism and the part of cultural environment in education.

Natural Absorption

"A lot of the education at the beginning here is somewhat acquired indirectly," said the CEO.

It's through this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the British traits they want to impart.

He noted the tutor needed to be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".

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

Cost Not Relevant

The family informed him the chosen tutor should preferably also have familiarity of or passion in riding, skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a diverse set of hobbies.

Furthermore though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an tool by the time they are about three years old".

In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to achievement and provide access.

"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.

However, despite all this tutelage in "Britishness", could the child absorb what is termed cultural influence from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?

"Yes", replied Adam. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he said.

Impractical

There are some in the private teaching field who have those reservations.

Peter Cui, head and founder of Blue Education, who provides personal educators, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."

Peter noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the time of seven, and had been raised understanding and living two backgrounds. He continued to study at Cambridge University.

Peter Cui portrait
The educator was the first individual hailing from China to be elected to the post of Treasurer of the Cambridge Union.

"The notion that one individual can function as a living vessel of Britishness, a person who can in some way transplant the attributes of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, seems to me idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.

"Based on my background, employing a quintessentially English tutor from babyhood will does not necessarily create the goal they want.

"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and however I have been lucky enough to live several of the experiences they desire for their son."

He stated: "The reality is, personal identity can not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."

Purchasing UK Culture

Certainly, UK identity is something Adam thinks can be taught – and commercialized.

"I think the fact that the world holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating

Tiffany Trujillo
Tiffany Trujillo

Environmental scientist and sustainability advocate with over a decade of experience in green technology and eco-conscious living.