Tutoring an Infant to Grow into an 'British Gentleman' – Is It Worth the Money?
"Parents residing in the northern part of London wants to find an extraordinary and experienced instructor to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might naturally miss the wording "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it might be the most important part of this unique job advert, as it seeks to recruit a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of responses have already been received since the unidentified family posted their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the post has attracted attention in the media, with many wondering why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their search, said that notwithstanding first doubt, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional aspect of their request, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", he answered. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed him they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their younger child.
The plan: To bring in a UK tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the learning at the start here is kind of acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.
It's through this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to cultivate.
Adam explained the tutor had to be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family explained to him the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, skiing, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about success and create opportunities.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he notes.
Yet, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", would the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the international family he is raised by anyway?
"Certainly", said Adam. "They realize this may not work, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as soon as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who share those reservations.
Another CEO, chief executive of a tutoring service, who provides personal educators, wrote that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
The expert explained that he had moved from Asia to the Britain at the period of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and living two backgrounds. He went on to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that one individual can act as a representation of UK identity, someone who can in some way impart the attributes of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and unfeasible," he commented.
"In my experience, having a quintessentially British tutor from babyhood will does not automatically achieve the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to experience several of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, self-identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, English culture is something Adam hopes can be instructed – 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