"Parents based in the northern part of London seeks an exceptional and experienced educator to guide their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might readily skip the phrase "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it may be the most important part of this unique employment listing, as it aims to find a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of submissions have since been received since the anonymous family posted their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the advert has gained interest throughout the news, with many wondering why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their hunt, explained that in spite of initial skepticism, he considered the plan "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional aspect of their demand, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already become established".
But what does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam replied. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family explained to the consultant they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To engage a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the beginning here is kind of absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will acquire the British traits they want to instil.
He explained the tutor must be an individual who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Money No Object
The family informed him the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son become a "UK sophisticate" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he adds.
However, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "English culture", could the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the international family he resides with in any case?
"Yes", replied the CEO. "The family understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the education sector who express similar reservations.
Peter Cui, head and founder of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, stated that "the process of becoming bicultural, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
Peter explained that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been brought up understanding and living both cultures. He continued to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that a single person can act as a representation of Britishness, a person who can possibly impart the characteristics of a British gentleman to a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"In my experience, having a quintessentially English tutor from infancy will does not instantly create the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live several of the situations they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be imposed from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"In my view the fact that the world regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
