"A family based in the northern part of London is looking for an extraordinary and qualified instructor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally miss the wording "initial stages" as mere an expression.
Yet, it could be the crucial aspect of this unique employment listing, as it aims to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of responses have now been sent in since the unnamed family posted their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the listing has attracted attention throughout the press, with several wondering why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, stated that in spite of first skepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he noted they appreciated the atypical aspect of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already taken hold".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they did not want this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the start here is somewhat osmotic," stated Adam.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to instil.
The consultant said the tutor had to be someone who studied at "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to the expert the successful candidate should preferably also have understanding of or passion in riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a wide range of interests.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will lead to achievement and provide access.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, notwithstanding all this guidance in "Britishness", would the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", answered Adam. "The parents know this may not work, but they've just taken the view of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who have these reservations.
Another CEO, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, wrote that "the development of becoming bicultural, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
Peter noted that he had relocated from China to the Britain at the period of childhood, and had been brought up understanding and practicing two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that a single person can act as a embodiment of UK identity, a person who can possibly impart the attributes of a UK sophisticate onto a infant child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he stated.
"In my experience, employing a typically English tutor from babyhood will not necessarily create the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience numerous of the situations they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, English culture is something the CEO believes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the fact that the international society regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
