"A family located in North London is looking for an exceptional and qualified instructor to guide their youngest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might readily skip the term "initial stages" as mere an expression.
But, it may be the most significant aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it aims to find a tutor for a infant.
Hundreds of submissions have since been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their call for the highly paid tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has gained notice in the press, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding first doubt, he considered the concept "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already set in".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", he replied. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they did not want the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The plan: To engage a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the start here is rather osmotic," stated the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will adopt the British traits they want to instil.
He explained the tutor had to be somebody who went to "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a variety 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 perspective, guiding their son become a "UK sophisticate" will bring about achievement and open doors.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with regardless?
"Certainly", said Adam. "The parents realize this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who express these doubts.
Another CEO, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of childhood, and had been brought up knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that one individual can act as a representation of English culture, a person who can in some way transfer the characteristics of a UK sophisticate to a infant child, appears optimistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly English tutor from early childhood will does not necessarily achieve the goal they hope for.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the experiences they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, personal identity can not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and sold.
"In my view the fact that the international society views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
