"A family located in the northern part of London seeks an remarkable and qualified instructor to assist their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might readily overlook the wording "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the most significant part of this unique employment listing, as it seeks to hire a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of applications have now been submitted since the anonymous family advertised their call for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the post has attracted notice in the news, with many wondering why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their hunt, explained that despite first doubt, he found the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they understood the atypical aspect of their demand, and how immature their son is.
However, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already set in".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", the expert replied. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family explained to him they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their infant.
The strategy: To bring in a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is somewhat osmotic," explained the expert.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will pick up the UK customs they wish to instil.
He noted the tutor must be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told him the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of passions.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a range of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he adds.
Yet, notwithstanding all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child pick up alleged cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he resides with regardless?
"Certainly", said he. "The parents understand this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Impractical
Several in the education sector who express those reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of an educational organization, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
The expert noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the period of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and embodying both cultures. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that one individual can act as a living vessel of Britishness, someone who can in some way transfer the qualities of a English gentleman to a 12-month-old child, seems to me naive and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will will not necessarily produce the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the situations they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the situation that the world views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
