Coaching an Infant to Grow into an 'British Gentleman' – Does It Justify the Investment?

Child education concept
The company behind the advertisement explains that what seems like "luxury or peculiarity" is actually "deliberate commitment in early-stage learning".

"Parents located in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and experienced tutor to support their smallest child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."

When reading this listing, you might readily miss the phrase "beginning" as just figurative language.

However, it may be the most significant part of this distinctive position posting, as it seeks to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.

Many of submissions have already been sent in since the unnamed family published their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".

During the past few weeks, the post has received interest in the news, with numerous questioning why?

Forward-Thinking Method

The CEO, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their search, stated that despite first skepticism, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "innovative".

When he consulted the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional aspect of their demand, and how immature their son is.

But, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".

What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?

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

He stated the firstborn had absorbed "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their younger child.

The strategy: To engage a UK tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from day one.

Tutoring discussion
The education firm say the listing has started a wider discussion about how families regard learning, advantage and the function of home and culture in learning.

Subtle Influence

"Much of the development at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said the CEO.

It's via this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to impart.

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

"The tutor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.

Expense Not a Factor

The family told him the selected educator should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.

Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are about three years old".

In the family's minds, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will bring about success and provide access.

"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.

But, despite all this guidance in "English culture", could the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he resides with anyway?

"Yes", replied Adam. "The family understand this could fail, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as early as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.

Impractical

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

Another CEO, head and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."

He noted that he had relocated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the age of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and living dual heritages. He went on to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.

Peter Cui portrait
Peter Cui was the first person born in China to be chosen to the post of Treasurer of the Cambridge Union.

"The notion that one individual can act as a representation of English culture, someone who can somehow transplant the attributes of a UK sophisticate upon a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.

"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially British tutor from babyhood will will not instantly produce the outcome they hope for.

"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to experience several of the situations they desire for their son."

He added: "The truth is, self-identity should not be dictated from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."

Acquiring Englishness

Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO believes can be taught – and commercialized.

"In my view the reality that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating

Kimberly Thomas
Kimberly Thomas

A mindfulness coach and writer passionate about helping others cultivate inner peace and personal transformation.