"A household based in North London seeks an exceptional and skilled educator to support their youngest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might naturally skip the wording "initial stages" as simple an expression.
However, it might be the most important aspect of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of responses have already been sent in since the unidentified family published their call for the highly paid tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the listing has attracted attention across the media, with numerous wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their hunt, said that in spite of early scepticism, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then become established".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", he replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the older sibling had absorbed "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their new baby.
The plan: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the development at the outset here is rather acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they want to cultivate.
The consultant said the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "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 doing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of hobbies.
More than that though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a range of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son grow into a "British gentleman" will lead to achievement and provide access.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he comments.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", might the child pick up so-called cultural leaning from the international family he is raised by anyway?
"Absolutely", replied he. "The family understand this may not work, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the education sector who express these concerns.
An education leader, head and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer private tutors, stated that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
He explained that he had moved from China to the Britain at the age of 7 years old, and had been raised experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He went on to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that an individual can function as a representation of Britishness, someone who can possibly transfer the qualities of a UK sophisticate to a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and unrealistic," he commented.
"Based on my background, engaging a typically British tutor from early childhood will will not necessarily produce the result they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live many of the situations they hope for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, personal identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, English culture is something the expert hopes can be taught – and sold.
"In my view the fact that the international society holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
