"Parents located in the northern part of London wants to find an extraordinary and skilled instructor to assist their youngest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might easily overlook the term "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.
Yet, it may be the crucial aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it aims to find a mentor for a infant.
Numerous of submissions have already been submitted since the unidentified family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted attention in the news, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, said that in spite of first skepticism, he viewed the concept "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they appreciated the atypical nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
But, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", he answered. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the elder child had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they did not want this pattern to happen again with their new baby.
The intention: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the beginning here is rather absorbed naturally," stated the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to instil.
The consultant explained the tutor had to be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a wide range of passions.
More than that though, he said the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son become a "English gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and open doors.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", could the child adopt what is termed cultural influence from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "The parents know this might not succeed, but they've just taken the view of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who share similar reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
He explained that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and embodying both cultures. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The concept that one individual can function as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can possibly transfer the qualities of a English gentleman onto a infant child, appears idealistic and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, engaging a typically English tutor from early childhood will does not automatically create the outcome they want.
"I never had such a figure, and however I have been lucky enough to live several of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, self-identity cannot be imposed from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, English culture is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"In my view the situation that the global community views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
