"Parents located in North London seeks an remarkable and experienced tutor to support their smallest child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might readily overlook the phrase "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the most significant part of this distinctive employment listing, as it seeks to recruit a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of responses have now been submitted since the unnamed family posted their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the listing has attracted notice in the media, with many asking why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding early scepticism, he viewed the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they appreciated the atypical character of their request, and how early in age their son is.
But, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent history to happen again with their younger child.
The intention: To engage a English tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the education at the start here is rather osmotic," stated the CEO.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to instil.
He explained the tutor must be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told the expert the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or interest in horse riding, skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
Furthermore though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will result in achievement and create opportunities.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he comments.
Yet, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child pick up what is termed cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with regardless?
"Certainly", said he. "The parents understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the tutoring industry who express these concerns.
An education leader, chief executive of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, commented that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
Peter wrote that he had relocated from China to the Britain at the age of seven, and had been brought up experiencing and practicing both cultures. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The idea that one individual can serve as a representation of English culture, a person who can somehow impart the qualities of a English gentleman to a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he commented.
"Based on my background, employing a distinctly UK tutor from babyhood will will not automatically create the outcome they desire.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to live many of the situations they desire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, personal identity cannot be imposed from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Of course, Britishness is something the expert believes can be taught – and sold.
"I believe the reality that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
