Coaching a Toddler to Become an 'British Gentleman' – Does It Justify the Cost?

Child education concept
The organization responsible for the advert claims that what seems like "luxury or oddity" is truly "purposeful investment in initial education".

"A household based in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and qualified tutor to assist their most junior child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."

When reading this advertisement, you might naturally skip the term "beginning" as just figurative language.

Yet, it might be the most significant aspect of this unique job advert, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.

Many of submissions have now been received since the anonymous family advertised their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".

Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained interest throughout the press, with several questioning why?

Forward-Thinking Method

A tutoring expert, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that in spite of early skepticism, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "innovative".

When he met the family, he said they recognized the atypical nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.

But, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already taken hold".

What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?

It's "comprehensive", Adam replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".

He stated the firstborn had adopted "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they did not want history to happen again with their younger child.

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

Tutoring discussion
The tutoring agency say the advert has sparked a wider conversation about how parents regard learning, advantage and the role of cultural environment in learning.

Osmotic Learning

"A lot of the learning at the beginning here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said Adam.

It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will acquire the British traits they wish to instil.

The consultant noted the tutor must be somebody who went to "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".

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

Expense Not a Factor

The family informed the expert the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of passions.

More than that though, he stated the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".

In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "English gentleman" will lead to success and provide access.

"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he adds.

But, in spite of all this instruction in "Britishness", might the child adopt so-called cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he lives with anyway?

"Certainly", answered Adam. "They know this may not work, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he said.

Idealistic and Unrealistic

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

An education leader, chief executive of an educational organization, who supplies private tutors, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."

He wrote that he had relocated from the Far East to the Britain at the time of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and practicing two backgrounds. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.

Peter Cui portrait
The educator was the first individual originating from mainland China to be elected to the post of Finance Head of the university debating society.

"The idea that a single person can serve as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can in some way impart the characteristics of a UK sophisticate upon a infant child, seems to me idealistic and unfeasible," he commented.

"From my perspective, having a typically UK tutor from infancy will not automatically achieve the outcome they want.

"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience numerous of the experiences they aspire for their son."

He added: "The reality is, self-identity should not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."

Acquiring Englishness

Certainly, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be taught – and commercialized.

"I believe the reality that the international society regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating

Kelly Hill
Kelly Hill

A seasoned digital strategist with over a decade of experience in driving online growth and innovation for businesses worldwide.