"A family located in the northern part of London seeks an exceptional and qualified instructor to guide their most junior child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might readily miss the term "initial stages" as just figurative language.
However, it could be the crucial aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it aims to hire a mentor for a infant.
Hundreds of applications have now been received since the unidentified family published their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has attracted notice across the media, with several wondering why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, stated that despite early skepticism, he found the idea "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the unusual aspect of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
However, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then become established".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the older sibling had adopted "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they did not want this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a UK tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is rather osmotic," stated Adam.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they wish to cultivate.
He noted the tutor had to be someone who went to "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family told the expert the selected educator should preferably also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he said the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will result in success and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.
However, despite all this instruction in "Britishness", would the child pick up alleged cultural leaning from the multicultural family he is raised by regardless?
"Yes", said the CEO. "They understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he said.
Impractical
There are some in the private teaching field who share those doubts.
Another CEO, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
He noted that he had moved from Asia to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been raised understanding and practicing both cultures. He progressed to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that a single person can act as a living vessel of Britishness, a person who can in some way transfer the characteristics of a British gentleman to a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly English tutor from babyhood will does not automatically create the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to experience numerous of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, English culture is something the CEO believes can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the reality that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
