"A household located in north London is looking for an remarkable and experienced educator to assist their smallest child on his early path to becoming an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily overlook the phrase "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.
However, it may be the crucial element of this unique job advert, as it aims to find a mentor for a infant.
Many of submissions have already been submitted since the unidentified family advertised their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has gained notice in the press, with many asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that notwithstanding initial doubt, he considered the plan "visionary", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he said they appreciated the atypical aspect of their request, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then set in".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had absorbed "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to him they wished to avoid history to recur with their infant.
The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the education at the start here is somewhat osmotic," stated the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to instil.
Adam explained the tutor needed to be someone who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the successful candidate should preferably also have understanding of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
More than that though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to achievement and create opportunities.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he notes.
But, in spite of all this instruction in "Britishness", would the child pick up what is termed cultural influence from the international family he lives with in any case?
"Yes", replied Adam. "The parents know this may not work, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as early as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who express those reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had moved from Asia to the Britain at the time of seven, and had been raised knowing and embodying dual heritages. He progressed to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can act as a representation of Britishness, an individual who can in some way transplant the qualities of a UK sophisticate onto a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"In my experience, having a typically UK tutor from babyhood will will not instantly create the result they hope for.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to experience numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, self-identity can not be forced from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert believes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I believe the fact that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
