"A family residing in North London wants to find an exceptional and qualified tutor to support their most junior child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might readily skip the phrase "beginning" as just a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the most important element of this unusual job advert, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Many of submissions have already been received since the unnamed family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the listing has gained notice across the news, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that notwithstanding initial scepticism, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional character of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already set in".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", he answered. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed the consultant they did not want this pattern to repeat itself with their infant.
The plan: To hire a English tutor, who must speak with RP, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the start here is rather acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they want to instil.
The consultant said the tutor must be an individual who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed the expert the selected educator should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in riding, skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of passions.
Furthermore though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and create opportunities.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he notes.
However, despite all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the international family he resides with in any case?
"Certainly", said he. "They realize this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'we should try and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who have those reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides personal educators, commented that "the development of becoming bicultural, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
He explained that he had emigrated from China to the United Kingdom at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised knowing and practicing both cultures. He continued to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can serve as a embodiment of English culture, an individual who can in some way transfer the attributes of a British gentleman upon a infant child, appears naive and unfeasible," he wrote.
"Based on my background, employing a typically British tutor from babyhood will not automatically produce the goal they desire.
"I never had such a tutor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to experience numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, English culture is something the CEO thinks can be instructed – and commercialized.
"In my view the reality that the global community views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
