"A family based in north London seeks an extraordinary and skilled educator to guide their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might easily overlook the term "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the crucial element of this unusual employment listing, as it seeks to find a tutor for a infant.
Many of responses have now been received since the unnamed family published their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained notice throughout the press, with several wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, said that in spite of early skepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he said they recognized the unconventional nature of their demand, and how young their son is.
But, they clarified 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 influence had already set in".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert answered. "How you eat, how you speak".
He stated the older sibling had picked up "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to him they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the start here is kind of absorbed naturally," stated the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to impart.
He explained the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed Adam the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or passion in equestrian activities, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son develop into a "British gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and open doors.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he comments.
Yet, despite all this tutelage in "Britishness", would the child absorb what is termed cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Absolutely", answered Adam. "The family understand this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he explained.
Impractical
A number of in the tutoring industry who express similar reservations.
Peter Cui, head and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer individual instructors, stated that "the development of becoming bicultural, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had moved from China to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been educated experiencing and living two backgrounds. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that a single person can function as a embodiment of UK identity, someone who can possibly transfer the qualities of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"In my experience, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from infancy will not automatically produce the goal they desire.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, self-identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, English culture is something the CEO thinks can be taught – and sold.
"In my view the reality that the global community views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
