"A family located in the northern part of London is looking for an extraordinary and experienced educator to assist their youngest child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might naturally overlook the wording "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it might be the most important aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of responses have now been sent in since the unnamed family advertised their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has attracted interest throughout the press, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding initial doubt, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he said they appreciated the unusual aspect of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
But, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the older sibling had picked up "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to him they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their infant.
The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the development at the start here is kind of osmotic," explained the CEO.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to impart.
The consultant explained the tutor needed to be someone who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will result in achievement and open doors.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he adds.
However, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "English culture", might the child absorb what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he lives with anyway?
"Certainly", said he. "The parents know this might not succeed, but they've just taken the view of, 'we should try and let's go as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who express those concerns.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert explained that he had relocated from the Far East to the Britain at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and embodying dual heritages. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that an individual can function as a embodiment of Britishness, a person who can in some way impart the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a 12-month-old child, seems to me idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly UK tutor from early childhood will will not instantly create the outcome they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and yet I have been privileged enough to enjoy several of the situations they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, personal identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I believe the situation that the international society regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
