"A household located in north London seeks an extraordinary and skilled tutor to support their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might easily miss the term "initial stages" as just figurative language.
But, it could be the most significant element of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to recruit a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of submissions have now been received since the unnamed family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the listing has attracted notice across the media, with many questioning why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, stated that despite first scepticism, he considered the idea "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional nature of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already taken hold".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He said the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family explained to him they did not want this pattern to repeat itself with their infant.
The intention: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the beginning here is kind of osmotic," explained the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will acquire the British traits they wish to instil.
Adam noted the tutor must be someone who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types 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 may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to the expert the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
More than that though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of lessons 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 perspective, guiding their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will result in accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he comments.
Yet, in spite of all this instruction in "English culture", might the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "The parents understand this could fail, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the education sector who have similar concerns.
An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who also offer individual instructors, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He noted that he had emigrated from China to the United Kingdom at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised understanding and practicing dual heritages. He went on to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that an individual can function as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can possibly transplant the characteristics of a British gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"In my experience, employing a distinctly British tutor from early childhood will will not instantly create the result they want.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to live several of the experiences they hope for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity can not be imposed from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, English culture is something the expert believes can be instructed – and sold.
"I believe the fact that the global community holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
