"A family based in North London seeks an extraordinary and qualified instructor to support their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily overlook the wording "initial stages" as mere a turn of phrase.
However, it may be the crucial part of this unusual position posting, as it aims to recruit a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of submissions have already been received since the unidentified family advertised their call for the highly paid tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the listing has received notice in the media, with several asking why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, said that despite initial doubt, he considered the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional nature of their request, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had by then become established".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He stated the older sibling had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family informed him they wished to avoid the same situation to repeat itself with their new baby.
The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the learning at the beginning here is kind of osmotic," said the expert.
It's via this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the British traits they want to cultivate.
The consultant said the tutor had to be someone who attended "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a wide range of passions.
Additionally though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
But, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "UK identity", could the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the international family he is raised by regardless?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "The parents understand this may not work, but they've just taken the view of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Impractical
There are some in the private teaching field who express those concerns.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who supplies personal educators, wrote that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
Peter noted that he had relocated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been educated experiencing and embodying both cultures. He continued to study at Cambridge University.
"The idea that an individual can act as a embodiment of English culture, an individual who can somehow transfer the attributes of a English gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"Based on my background, employing a typically British tutor from early childhood will will not necessarily produce the goal they desire.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity should not be forced from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Of course, Britishness is something the CEO hopes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I believe the fact that the international society views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
