Educating a Toddler to Become an 'English Gentleman' – Does It Justify the Cost?

Child education concept
The company responsible for the advert explains that what appears like "extravagance or peculiarity" is in fact "deliberate commitment in initial learning".

"Parents residing in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and skilled educator to support their most junior child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."

Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily miss the wording "beginning" as just figurative language.

Yet, it may be the most important part of this distinctive job advert, as it attempts to find a mentor for a one-year-old.

Hundreds of responses have now been sent in since the unidentified family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".

Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted notice in the media, with several wondering why?

Innovative Idea

A tutoring expert, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their hunt, said that despite first scepticism, he viewed the concept "visionary", and "innovative".

When he met the family, he said they appreciated the unusual aspect of their requirement, and how young their son is.

But, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already set in".

But what did the family mean by "cultural bias"?

It's "comprehensive", the expert answered. "The manner you eat, how you speak".

He said the firstborn had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to repeat itself with their infant.

The intention: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from day one.

Tutoring discussion
Tutors International say the post has sparked a broader debate about how parents regard learning, privilege and the role of family background in education.

Subtle Influence

"A great deal of the education at the outset here is kind of absorbed naturally," said Adam.

It's through this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the British traits they want to impart.

Adam noted the tutor had to be an individual who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".

"The educator simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he said.

Expense Not a Factor

The family informed the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, skiing, the arts and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of hobbies.

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

In the family's view, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and open doors.

"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he comments.

But, despite all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?

"Certainly", said the CEO. "The parents realize this may not work, but they've just taken the view of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he explained.

Overly Optimistic

A number of in the tutoring industry who share similar reservations.

An education leader, chief executive of an educational organization, who supplies individual instructors, commented that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."

The expert wrote that he had relocated from China to the UK at the period of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He went on to learn at Cambridge University.

Peter Cui portrait
Peter Cui was the pioneer originating from the People's Republic of China to be selected to the post of Finance Head of the Cambridge Union Society.

"The idea that an individual can function as a representation of English culture, a person who can in some way transfer the attributes of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.

"In my experience, engaging a distinctly British tutor from early childhood will not necessarily achieve the outcome they desire.

"I never had such a tutor, and however I have been lucky enough to experience many of the situations they hope for their son."

He stated: "The fact is, self-identity cannot be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."

Purchasing UK Culture

Certainly, Britishness is something Adam believes can be taught – and marketed.

"In my view the fact that the international society regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating

Michael Evans
Michael Evans

Seasoned travel writer and cruise enthusiast with over a decade of experience exploring North America's waterways.