"A household residing in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and qualified educator to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might readily overlook the term "initial stages" as mere an expression.
Yet, it may be the most significant part of this unusual job advert, as it seeks to hire a teacher for a one-year-old.
Many of applications have already been received since the unidentified family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the listing has gained interest in the press, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their hunt, said that notwithstanding initial doubt, he considered the concept "visionary", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they understood the atypical character of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already set in".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", Adam replied. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He said the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family explained to him they did not want this pattern to repeat itself with their infant.
The plan: To engage a UK tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the development at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.
It's via this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they wish to cultivate.
Adam said the tutor had to be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to him the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or passion in riding, alpine skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son develop into a "British gentleman" will result in success and provide access.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he notes.
Yet, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "English culture", could the child pick up what is termed cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with regardless?
"Certainly", answered Adam. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who have those reservations.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, commented that "the development of becoming bicultural, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
He wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated understanding and living both cultures. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that one individual can act as a representation of UK identity, someone who can somehow transfer the qualities of a British gentleman onto a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and impractical," he wrote.
"Based on my background, employing a distinctly English tutor from early childhood will will not automatically achieve the result they hope for.
"I never had such a figure, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the experiences they hope for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity can not be dictated from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, Britishness is something the CEO believes can be educated – and sold.
"I think the reality that the global community views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
