Coaching a Baby to Become an 'British Gentleman' – Is It Worth the Investment?
"A family based in North London is looking for an exceptional and experienced instructor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might easily overlook the phrase "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
But, it might be the crucial part of this unique employment listing, as it seeks to find a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have already been received since the unidentified family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received notice in the news, with numerous asking why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, explained that in spite of early doubt, he viewed the concept "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they appreciated the unusual aspect of their requirement, and how young their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had by then set in".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam responded. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He said the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed the consultant they wished to avoid the same situation to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To hire a English tutor, who must speak with RP, to influence the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is rather acquired indirectly," said the CEO.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they aim to instil.
The consultant noted the tutor needed to be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in riding, winter sports, the arts and music so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Furthermore though, he stated the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will result in achievement and create opportunities.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "Britishness", could the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", replied the CEO. "The parents realize this may not work, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the private teaching field who have similar reservations.
An education leader, chief executive of an educational organization, who supplies private tutors, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
The expert explained that he had emigrated from China to the Britain at the period of seven, and had been brought up understanding and practicing both cultures. He went on to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that one individual can serve as a living vessel of English culture, someone who can in some way transplant the attributes of a UK sophisticate upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly British tutor from babyhood will not instantly create the result they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience many of the situations they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity can not be forced from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I believe the situation that the international society views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating