🔗 Share this article

"A family residing in North London seeks an extraordinary and skilled instructor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an English gentleman."

When reading this advertisement, you might easily miss the term "beginning" as simple a turn of phrase.

But, it could be the most important element of this unusual job advert, as it attempts to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.

Hundreds of responses have now been received since the unnamed family published their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".

In recent few weeks, the post has attracted attention in the press, with numerous questioning why?

Forward-Thinking Method

The CEO, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that despite initial skepticism, he found the idea "far sighted", and "innovative".

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

But, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already taken hold".

But what does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?

It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "The manner you eat, how you speak".

He explained the elder child had adopted "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed him they did not want this pattern to recur with their younger child.

The strategy: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.

Natural Absorption

"Much of the education at the outset here is rather absorbed naturally," explained Adam.

It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.

He said the tutor had to be somebody who attended "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".

"The educator must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he added.

Expense Not a Factor

The family told Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.

More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an instrument by the time they are around three years old".

In the family's perspective, guiding their son grow into a "British gentleman" will bring about achievement and open doors.

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

Yet, despite all this instruction in "English culture", might the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the international family he resides with regardless?

"Yes", said the CEO. "They realize this may not work, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as early as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he explained.

Idealistic and Unrealistic

There are some in the education sector who share these reservations.

Another CEO, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."

Peter explained that he had emigrated from China to the UK at the time of seven, and had been raised experiencing and practicing dual heritages. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.

"The notion that a single person can act as a living vessel of Britishness, an individual who can in some way transfer the attributes of a British gentleman to a infant child, appears idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.

"In my experience, having a distinctly English tutor from infancy will will not instantly achieve the result they desire.

"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the experiences they hope for their son."

He added: "The truth is, self-identity can not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."

Purchasing UK Culture

Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and marketed.

"I think the fact that the global community regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating