"A household residing in north London wants to find an exceptional and qualified tutor to guide their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might readily miss the phrase "initial stages" as simple an expression.
Yet, it may be the most significant part of this unusual position posting, as it aims to hire a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have already been received since the anonymous family published their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the listing has gained notice in the media, with numerous wondering why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their search, said that notwithstanding first scepticism, he found the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he mentioned they understood the atypical nature of their demand, and how young their son is.
However, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already set in".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", the expert responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family informed the consultant they hoped to prevent the same situation to repeat itself with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is somewhat osmotic," said Adam.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will adopt the British traits they wish to impart.
Adam explained the tutor had to be an individual who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told Adam the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
But, in spite of all this instruction in "English culture", could the child pick up so-called cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Certainly", said he. "They understand this might not succeed, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the private teaching field who share those doubts.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides personal educators, commented that "the process of becoming bicultural, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
Peter explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the period of childhood, and had been raised knowing and living dual heritages. He continued to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The notion that an individual can function as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can in some way transfer the qualities of a English gentleman upon a infant child, strikes me as optimistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"Based on my background, having a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will does not automatically achieve the result they want.
"I did not have such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity cannot be forced from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, Britishness is something the expert hopes can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
