"A family residing in the northern part of London seeks an exceptional and skilled educator to support their smallest child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily miss the phrase "initial stages" as mere a turn of phrase.
Yet, it might be the most significant element of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to find a tutor for a infant.
Numerous of responses have now been received since the unidentified family advertised their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the advert has attracted attention in the press, with several questioning why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their search, explained that in spite of initial skepticism, he considered the idea "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he said they appreciated the unusual aspect of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had by then become established".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", the expert replied. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the older sibling had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to happen again with their infant.
The strategy: To hire a British tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the development at the start here is kind of acquired indirectly," explained the expert.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to instil.
He said the tutor needed to be someone who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
More than that though, he explained the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son grow into a "English gentleman" will bring about success and provide access.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he adds.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", would the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?
"Absolutely", said he. "They realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the tutoring industry who share similar doubts.
Another CEO, head and founder of a tutoring service, who provides individual instructors, commented that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
The expert noted that he had emigrated from Asia to the Britain at the age of seven, and had been brought up understanding and living both cultures. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can function as a living vessel of English culture, someone who can in some way impart the attributes of a British gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, appears idealistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"In my experience, having a distinctly UK tutor from infancy will will not automatically create the result they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been privileged enough to enjoy several of the experiences they hope for their son."
He added: "The truth is, personal identity can not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, UK identity is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"In my view the fact that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
