"Parents based in north London is looking for an extraordinary and qualified instructor to support their youngest child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might readily skip the wording "initial stages" as simple figurative language.
But, it might be the crucial part of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of applications have now been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their call for the highly paid tutor, who must be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the listing has received notice across the news, with many asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their hunt, stated that in spite of first skepticism, he viewed the idea "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he said they appreciated the unusual character of their demand, and how immature their son is.
However, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert replied. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He stated the older sibling had adopted "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the development at the beginning here is kind of acquired indirectly," said the CEO.
It's through this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will acquire the English characteristics they want to cultivate.
The consultant explained the tutor had to be somebody who went to "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Additionally though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will result in achievement and open doors.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
But, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "English culture", might the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?
"Certainly", replied Adam. "The parents realize this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he said.
Impractical
A number of in the tutoring industry who share those reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
The expert explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been educated understanding and living both cultures. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that one individual can function as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can possibly transplant the attributes of a UK sophisticate onto a infant child, seems to me naive and unrealistic," he stated.
"In my experience, engaging a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will does not instantly achieve the goal they want.
"I did not have such a figure, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to experience several of the experiences they hope for their son."
He added: "The fact is, self-identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam hopes can be educated – and sold.
"I think the reality that the international society regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
