"Parents located in north London seeks an remarkable and qualified tutor to guide their youngest child on his early path to becoming an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally skip the phrase "initial stages" as mere an expression.
However, it could be the crucial element of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have now been received since the unidentified family published their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted notice in the news, with numerous asking why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, stated that despite first skepticism, he found the plan "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he said they appreciated the unconventional character of their demand, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert answered. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the firstborn had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family told him they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the start here is rather acquired indirectly," stated Adam.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to instil.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be someone who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Money No Object
The family informed him the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in riding, skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a wide range of interests.
Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son become a "British gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and open doors.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he comments.
Yet, in spite of all this instruction in "English culture", might the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the international family he resides with anyway?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "They realize this may not work, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who have those doubts.
Another CEO, head and founder of an educational organization, who also offer personal educators, stated that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of seven, and had been brought up understanding and embodying both cultures. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that an individual can act as a representation of English culture, someone who can in some way transfer the characteristics of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, appears optimistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"From my perspective, engaging a distinctly English tutor from early childhood will will not necessarily produce the outcome they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and however I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the expert believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I think the fact that the world views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
