"A household located in north London is looking for an extraordinary and experienced tutor to guide their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might naturally overlook the phrase "initial stages" as just figurative language.
But, it could be the crucial aspect of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to recruit a teacher for a one-year-old.
Numerous of applications have since been sent in since the anonymous family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the post has gained interest across the news, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their search, said that notwithstanding initial skepticism, he found the plan "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they appreciated the unconventional character of their requirement, and how young their son is.
However, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had by then become established".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert replied. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family told Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to repeat itself with their younger child.
The plan: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to influence the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the development at the start here is rather osmotic," explained Adam.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they aim to cultivate.
He noted the tutor must be someone who went to "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told him the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or interest in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, the arts and music so as to influence the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "UK identity", might the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he resides with regardless?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "The parents understand this might not succeed, but they've just taken the view of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the education sector who express these reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides private tutors, commented that "the development of becoming bicultural, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
The expert wrote that he had relocated from China to the Britain at the age of seven, and had been brought up experiencing and practicing dual heritages. He progressed to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that an individual can act as a embodiment of English culture, an individual who can somehow transplant the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a infant child, strikes me as optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"Based on my background, having a quintessentially UK tutor from infancy will not automatically achieve the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy many of the experiences they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, cultural identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, UK identity is something Adam thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"In my view the fact that the world holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
