"A household located in North London seeks an exceptional and qualified educator to assist their most junior child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally overlook the term "initial stages" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it might be the most significant aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of submissions have since been received since the unidentified family published their request for the highly paid tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the advert has received interest throughout the media, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, explained that in spite of first scepticism, he considered the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they recognized the atypical aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert replied. "How you eat, how you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family informed the consultant they hoped to prevent the same situation to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To engage a UK tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," stated the expert.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.
The consultant explained the tutor needed to be an individual who studied at "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and open doors.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he notes.
But, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "English culture", might the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the international family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", answered he. "They know this may not work, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the education sector who express those concerns.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer personal educators, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter noted that he had relocated from China to the UK at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised experiencing and practicing both cultures. He went on to learn at Cambridge University.
"The notion that one individual can act as a representation of English culture, a person who can in some way transfer the attributes of a English gentleman to a infant child, appears optimistic and impractical," he stated.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will not automatically achieve the result they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience several of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be imposed from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be educated – and commercialized.
"In my view the reality that the global community holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
