"A family based in the northern part of London is looking for an extraordinary and skilled educator to support their youngest child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might readily overlook the wording "initial stages" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the most important aspect of this unique job advert, as it seeks to recruit a tutor for a infant.
Numerous of applications have now been sent in since the unnamed family published their request for the highly paid tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the advert has gained notice in the media, with many questioning why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their search, said that notwithstanding first skepticism, he considered the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he said they appreciated the unusual aspect of their demand, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already taken hold".
But what did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He explained the older sibling had absorbed "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told him they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The plan: To hire a UK tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," stated the CEO.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to impart.
The consultant said the tutor must be someone who studied at "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to the expert the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in equestrian activities, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to register the child on a range of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he comments.
But, in spite of all this instruction in "English culture", could the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Yes", said he. "The parents understand this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'we should try and we should start as early as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he said.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who express those reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who provides private tutors, stated that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
The expert wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been brought up knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He went on to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that an individual can serve as a embodiment of Britishness, an individual who can somehow transplant the attributes of a British gentleman to a one-year-old child, appears naive and unfeasible," he stated.
"In my experience, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from infancy will not necessarily achieve the outcome they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience numerous of the experiences they hope for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be instructed – and marketed.
"In my view the fact that the global community views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
