"A household residing in the northern part of London is looking for an extraordinary and qualified educator to support their smallest child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might readily skip the phrase "initial stages" as just figurative language.
However, it might be the most significant element of this unusual position posting, as it aims to find a mentor for a infant.
Numerous of responses have now been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the post has attracted attention in the media, with several questioning why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding initial doubt, he found the concept "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they recognized the atypical aspect of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
However, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already taken hold".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", Adam responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the firstborn had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told him they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their new baby.
The plan: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the development at the start here is kind of acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they wish to instil.
He noted the tutor had to be somebody who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Money No Object
The family informed him the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of hobbies.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son become a "British gentleman" will bring about success and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.
But, notwithstanding all this instruction in "English culture", might the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the international family he is raised by anyway?
"Absolutely", said he. "The family know this may not work, but they've just taken the view of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who have similar doubts.
An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
He noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised understanding and practicing two backgrounds. He continued to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that an individual can act as a living vessel of Britishness, an individual who can somehow impart the qualities of a UK sophisticate onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me idealistic and impractical," he commented.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly British tutor from early childhood will will not necessarily produce the result they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience numerous of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something the expert hopes can be educated – and sold.
"I believe the fact that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
