"A family based in North London seeks an remarkable and qualified educator to assist their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might easily skip the term "initial stages" as just figurative language.
However, it might be the most important aspect of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to hire a tutor for a infant.
Numerous of applications have since been received since the unidentified family advertised their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained attention across the media, with many asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their search, said that notwithstanding first skepticism, he viewed the concept "visionary", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he noted they appreciated the unconventional nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
However, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already taken hold".
But what did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam replied. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family told him they wished to avoid the same situation to repeat itself with their infant.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the education at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," explained the CEO.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will adopt the British traits they aim to impart.
He explained the tutor needed to be an individual who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told him the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in riding, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a diverse set of passions.
Furthermore though, he explained the family desired the tutor to register 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 view, assisting their son grow into a "British gentleman" will bring about success and open doors.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he adds.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", would the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", replied Adam. "The parents know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he explained.
Impractical
There are some in the education sector who express those concerns.
Peter Cui, chief executive of a tutoring service, who supplies private tutors, stated that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
He explained that he had emigrated from China to the UK at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying both cultures. He went on to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can act as a embodiment of UK identity, a person who can in some way transplant the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, appears optimistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"In my experience, having a typically British tutor from early childhood will not automatically create the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and however I have been privileged enough to enjoy several of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be dictated from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, Britishness is something the CEO hopes can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the fact that the world views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
