"Parents residing in North London wants to find an exceptional and experienced educator to assist their smallest child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might readily miss the phrase "initial stages" as just an expression.
However, it may be the crucial aspect of this unusual job advert, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of responses have already been sent in since the unidentified family posted their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has attracted notice in the media, with many wondering why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, said that in spite of early doubt, he viewed the concept "visionary", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional character of their demand, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had by then set in".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert answered. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the older sibling had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family informed Adam they did not want this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To hire a UK tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the development at the outset here is rather acquired indirectly," explained the expert.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will pick up the British traits they want to impart.
The consultant said the tutor must be an individual who studied at "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed Adam the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a wide range of passions.
More than that though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to achievement and open doors.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
Yet, in spite of all this instruction in "English culture", would the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "They understand this could fail, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as soon as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the private teaching field who have similar doubts.
Peter Cui, head and founder of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
The expert noted that he had moved from the Far East to the UK at the period of 7 years old, and had been educated experiencing and living two backgrounds. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that one individual can function as a embodiment of Britishness, someone who can somehow transplant the qualities of a UK sophisticate onto a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"Based on my background, having a distinctly British tutor from early childhood will not necessarily produce the result they hope for.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to live many of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity can not be forced from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, English culture is something Adam thinks can be taught – and commercialized.
"In my view the situation that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
