"A household residing in north London seeks an remarkable and qualified instructor to assist their most junior child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might readily skip the wording "initial stages" as mere a turn of phrase.
But, it could be the most important element of this unusual job advert, as it seeks to recruit a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of applications have since been received since the anonymous family posted their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the listing has attracted notice in the press, with several wondering why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their hunt, stated that notwithstanding initial doubt, he considered the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he noted they understood the unusual nature of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
But, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had by then taken hold".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He said the older sibling had adopted "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed him they did not want history to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To engage a UK tutor, who should speak with RP, to influence the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is rather acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the British traits they aim to cultivate.
Adam explained the tutor needed to be an individual who studied at "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told him the selected educator should preferably also have knowledge of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
More than that though, he explained the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will lead to success and provide access.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he notes.
Yet, in spite of all this tutelage in "English culture", might the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the international family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", answered the CEO. "They know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as early 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, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert noted that he had relocated from China to the Britain at the period of seven, and had been educated understanding and living both cultures. He progressed to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The idea that a single person can act as a embodiment of UK identity, a person who can somehow impart the attributes of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and unrealistic," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from babyhood will will not automatically achieve the result they want.
"I did not have such a figure, and however I have been lucky enough to enjoy several of the situations they desire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, self-identity cannot be imposed from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, Britishness is something Adam hopes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I think the situation that the world regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
