"A family located in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and skilled tutor to assist their youngest child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might naturally skip the wording "initial stages" as just figurative language.
Yet, it could be the most important element of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of responses have now been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the listing has gained notice in the media, with numerous asking why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their hunt, stated that despite early skepticism, he found the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional character of their request, and how young their son is.
However, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then taken hold".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", Adam replied. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family told the consultant they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The plan: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is kind of osmotic," explained the CEO.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will pick up the British traits they aim to impart.
Adam explained the tutor must be somebody who studied at "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in riding, skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and open doors.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he notes.
But, notwithstanding all this instruction in "English culture", might the child absorb what is termed cultural influence from the globally influenced family he is raised by in any case?
"Certainly", answered Adam. "The family understand this may not work, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the private teaching field who share those concerns.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer individual instructors, commented that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had moved from the Far East to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that an individual can serve as a representation of English culture, someone who can somehow transplant the characteristics of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and impractical," he stated.
"Based on my background, engaging a typically British tutor from infancy will does not necessarily produce the outcome they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience many of the situations they hope for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity can not be forced from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, Britishness is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and sold.
"In my view the fact that the world holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
