"A family located in the northern part of London seeks an remarkable and experienced educator to assist their most junior child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might readily skip the wording "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it may be the crucial aspect of this unique employment listing, as it attempts to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have since been received since the anonymous family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the listing has received attention across the news, with several wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their hunt, explained that in spite of initial skepticism, he considered the plan "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the unusual aspect of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
However, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already become established".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the older sibling had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family told him they hoped to prevent the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To bring in a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the outset here is rather acquired indirectly," explained the expert.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will pick up the British traits they want to cultivate.
Adam explained the tutor must be an individual who studied at "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told the expert the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in riding, winter sports, creative fields and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will result in success and provide access.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
Yet, notwithstanding all this instruction in "Britishness", would the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the international family he is raised by anyway?
"Absolutely", said the CEO. "The parents understand this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Impractical
A number of in the education sector who have these reservations.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
He explained that he had relocated from China to the Britain at the age of seven, and had been raised knowing and practicing dual heritages. He progressed to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can serve as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can in some way transfer the qualities of a English gentleman upon a infant child, strikes me as optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, employing a typically English tutor from infancy will not automatically achieve the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the situations they desire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be taught – and marketed.
"I think the fact that the world regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
