"A household located in north London is looking for an exceptional and skilled instructor to guide their youngest child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally overlook the term "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
However, it might be the most significant aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a infant.
Numerous of responses have now been sent in since the unnamed family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the post has received interest in the news, with numerous wondering why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, said that notwithstanding first doubt, he considered the idea "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he mentioned they recognized the unusual 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 elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", the expert responded. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He said the firstborn had picked up "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their new baby.
The plan: To engage a UK tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the learning at the start here is kind of osmotic," explained the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they wish to instil.
He noted the tutor had to be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he notes.
But, despite all this instruction in "English culture", might the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Absolutely", said he. "They understand this might not succeed, but they've just taken the view of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the private teaching field who share similar doubts.
Peter Cui, chief executive of a tutoring service, who supplies personal educators, commented that "the process of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
Peter noted that he had moved from China to the Britain at the period of childhood, and had been educated knowing and embodying dual heritages. He progressed to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that an individual can serve as a representation of Britishness, someone who can possibly transplant the qualities of a English gentleman upon a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and unrealistic," he stated.
"From my perspective, having a typically British tutor from early childhood will not automatically achieve the result they desire.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and however I have been privileged enough to enjoy numerous of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, personal identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I believe the fact that the international society views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
