"Parents located in north London wants to find an extraordinary and experienced educator to assist their youngest child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might easily miss the phrase "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it may be the crucial element of this distinctive position posting, as it seeks to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have since been received since the unidentified family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has attracted attention throughout the news, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding first doubt, he found the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they appreciated the atypical aspect of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
However, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already set in".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", he responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the firstborn had absorbed "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family explained to the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to happen again with their infant.
The intention: To engage a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the development at the start here is kind of absorbed naturally," stated Adam.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will pick up the English characteristics they aim to impart.
He said the tutor had to be someone who attended "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told Adam the successful candidate should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, notwithstanding all this instruction in "UK identity", could the child adopt alleged cultural leaning from the international family he is raised by anyway?
"Absolutely", answered the CEO. "They realize this may not work, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Impractical
There are some in the private teaching field who have those concerns.
Another CEO, chief executive of Blue Education, who also offer personal educators, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert wrote that he had moved from China to the United Kingdom at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and practicing dual heritages. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can function as a representation of English culture, an individual who can somehow transplant the attributes of a English gentleman to a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"From my perspective, engaging a typically English tutor from early childhood will will not automatically create the outcome they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live many of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, self-identity should not be dictated from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the global community regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
