"A household located in north London wants to find an extraordinary and qualified tutor to assist their youngest child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might readily overlook the phrase "first-steps" as just an expression.
Yet, it may be the most important part of this distinctive position posting, as it attempts to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Many of submissions have now been sent in since the unidentified family published their search for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the listing has gained notice throughout the press, with numerous wondering why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, head and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding first scepticism, he found the concept "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he said they recognized the atypical nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
However, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He stated the elder child had absorbed "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed the consultant they did not want the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The intention: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to influence the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the development at the beginning here is somewhat acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's via this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they aim to cultivate.
He explained the tutor needed to be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Money No Object
The family explained to him the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in riding, skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
But, in spite of all this instruction in "English culture", might the child pick up alleged cultural influence from the globally influenced family he is raised by anyway?
"Yes", said he. "The parents realize this may not work, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he said.
Impractical
A number of in the private teaching field who express similar reservations.
An education leader, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who supplies private tutors, stated that "the development of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
The expert explained that he had moved from China to the Britain at the age of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and practicing dual heritages. He progressed to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The notion that an individual can serve as a representation of Britishness, a person who can possibly transfer the characteristics of a UK sophisticate upon a infant child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"Based on my background, employing a typically UK tutor from early childhood will not necessarily produce the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live many of the experiences they hope for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, English culture is something the CEO thinks can be taught – and marketed.
"I think the situation that the global community views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
