"A household based in north London seeks an extraordinary and qualified tutor to guide their most junior child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily miss the phrase "beginning" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it might be the most important element of this unique employment listing, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of responses have already been sent in since the unnamed family posted their request for the highly paid tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the post has attracted attention throughout the media, with many wondering why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, head and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding initial skepticism, he viewed the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional nature of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
However, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already set in".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert answered. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had absorbed "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family told the consultant they wished to avoid the same situation to repeat itself with their new baby.
The intention: To engage a UK tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the development at the outset here is rather absorbed naturally," stated Adam.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will acquire the British traits they wish to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be somebody who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told Adam the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will result in success and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he adds.
But, notwithstanding all this instruction in "English culture", might the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Yes", replied the CEO. "The family realize this might not succeed, but they've just taken the view of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he said.
Impractical
Several in the private teaching field who share these reservations.
Another CEO, chief executive of an educational organization, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the process of becoming bicultural, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
Peter explained that he had relocated from China to the United Kingdom at the time of childhood, and had been educated experiencing and practicing two backgrounds. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that a single person can serve as a living vessel of English culture, an individual who can somehow transfer the qualities of a UK sophisticate upon a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly UK tutor from babyhood will does not instantly achieve the result they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and however I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the situations they hope for their son."
He added: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, English culture is something the expert hopes can be instructed – and sold.
"I think the situation that the world regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
