"A family residing in north London is looking for an extraordinary and skilled instructor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily miss the phrase "initial stages" as mere an expression.
However, it might be the most important element of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.
Many of submissions have since been received since the unnamed family posted their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has attracted interest across the press, with several wondering why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their search, said that despite initial skepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical aspect of their requirement, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already set in".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", he replied. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the older sibling had adopted "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed the consultant they wished to avoid history to happen again with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a UK tutor, who should speak with RP, to guide the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the education at the start here is kind of osmotic," explained the expert.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the British traits they wish to instil.
He explained the tutor must be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Money No Object
The family told him the selected educator should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he notes.
But, in spite of all this guidance in "English culture", could the child adopt alleged cultural leaning from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Yes", replied Adam. "The parents know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as early as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who have these reservations.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
The expert noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been brought up knowing and embodying dual heritages. He progressed to learn at Cambridge University.
"The notion that a single person can act as a representation of UK identity, someone who can somehow transplant the attributes of a British gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"In my experience, having a typically British tutor from infancy will will not automatically produce the goal they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and however I have been privileged enough to enjoy several of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I believe the fact that the world holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
