"A household residing in north London seeks an extraordinary and skilled tutor to assist their youngest child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might readily miss the term "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the most significant aspect of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to recruit a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of submissions have since been received since the anonymous family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained attention across the news, with many asking why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, stated that despite initial scepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical character of their demand, and how immature their son is.
However, they explained 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 stage "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert responded. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family informed the consultant they did not want this pattern to happen again with their infant.
The intention: To engage a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the education at the beginning here is somewhat acquired indirectly," stated Adam.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will acquire the English characteristics they want to cultivate.
He said the tutor needed to be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed him the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he said the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and open doors.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he adds.
But, despite all this guidance in "English culture", would the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by in any case?
"Certainly", said the CEO. "The family realize this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who express these concerns.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who also offer private tutors, stated that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
The expert wrote that he had relocated from the Far East to the Britain at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated understanding and embodying dual heritages. He progressed to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can function as a living vessel of UK identity, someone who can in some way transplant the qualities of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, strikes me as idealistic and impractical," he commented.
"Based on my background, having a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will not instantly create the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and however I have been lucky enough to live several of the situations they desire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, self-identity should not be dictated from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, English culture is something the CEO believes can be instructed – and sold.
"I think the reality that the global community views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
