"Parents residing in north London is looking for an exceptional and qualified instructor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might easily overlook the phrase "beginning" as mere an expression.
Yet, it might be the most important element of this unique position posting, as it aims to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of applications have since been submitted since the anonymous family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the listing has gained attention in the press, with numerous asking why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their hunt, explained that despite initial scepticism, he viewed the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he noted they understood the atypical aspect of their request, and how early in age their son is.
However, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam responded. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family explained to him they wished to avoid history to repeat itself with their infant.
The plan: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the development at the beginning here is kind of osmotic," said the CEO.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to impart.
The consultant explained the tutor must be someone who attended "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to shape the child in a wide range of interests.
More than that though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "English culture", would the child absorb what is termed cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Absolutely", answered he. "They know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the education sector who share these reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of an educational organization, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the process of embracing two identities, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter wrote that he had moved from the Far East to the Britain at the period of 7 years old, and had been educated experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He went on to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a embodiment of English culture, an individual who can in some way impart the characteristics of a English gentleman to a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"In my experience, engaging a quintessentially British tutor from babyhood will will not automatically create the outcome they desire.
"I did not have such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, personal identity should not be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"In my view the fact that the global community regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
