"A household based in North London wants to find an extraordinary and experienced tutor to support their youngest child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might readily miss the term "initial stages" as mere an expression.
Yet, it may be the most important part of this distinctive position posting, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a infant.
Hundreds of applications have since been received since the anonymous family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the advert has attracted attention across the media, with many asking why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their hunt, said that notwithstanding initial skepticism, he considered the plan "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional character of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
But, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already become established".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", the expert replied. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family informed the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a British tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is rather absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they wish to instil.
The consultant said the tutor had to be somebody who attended "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed the expert the selected educator should preferably also have understanding of or interest in riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Additionally though, he said the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
But, in spite of all this instruction in "Britishness", might the child adopt alleged cultural bias from the international family he is raised by in any case?
"Certainly", answered Adam. "The family realize this may not work, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who have those concerns.
Another CEO, head and founder of an educational organization, who also offer private tutors, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been educated experiencing and embodying both cultures. He continued to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can act as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can somehow transfer the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a 12-month-old child, appears naive and unfeasible," he commented.
"In my experience, employing a quintessentially English tutor from babyhood will not necessarily achieve the outcome they desire.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been privileged enough to live many of the situations they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO hopes can be taught – and sold.
"In my view the situation that the global community views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
