"Parents residing in the northern part of London wants to find an exceptional and skilled educator to support their smallest child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might easily miss the wording "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it may be the most significant part of this unique job advert, as it attempts to find a mentor for a infant.
Many of responses have already been received since the unnamed family advertised their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the listing has attracted attention throughout the press, with numerous wondering why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that in spite of early doubt, he viewed the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they recognized the unconventional character of their request, and how immature their son is.
But, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already set in".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", he responded. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family told the consultant they did not want this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The plan: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the learning at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to cultivate.
He noted the tutor must be an individual who studied at "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to him the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to influence the child in a diverse set of interests.
Additionally though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will bring about success and provide access.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
But, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", might the child absorb what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he lives with regardless?
"Certainly", said the CEO. "They realize this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as soon as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the education sector who share similar doubts.
Peter Cui, head and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies private tutors, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
Peter wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated understanding and practicing dual heritages. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can act as a representation of Britishness, an individual who can in some way transfer the qualities of a UK sophisticate onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me naive and impractical," he stated.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly English tutor from babyhood will does not automatically create the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to enjoy several of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, self-identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be educated – and marketed.
"In my view the reality that the world regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
