"A household located in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and skilled educator to support their most junior child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might readily miss the phrase "initial stages" as just an expression.
Yet, it may be the most significant element of this unusual employment listing, as it seeks to recruit a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of applications have since been received since the unnamed family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the post has attracted notice in the press, with several asking why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their hunt, explained that notwithstanding first skepticism, he found the idea "visionary", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the unusual nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.
But, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had by then become established".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family explained to the consultant they wished to avoid the same situation to repeat itself with their new baby.
The intention: To hire a British tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the education at the beginning here is rather acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will acquire the UK customs they aim to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be somebody who studied at "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told him the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in riding, skiing, creative fields and music so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Furthermore though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "British gentleman" will lead to success and create opportunities.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
However, despite all this instruction in "Britishness", might the child pick up alleged cultural leaning from the international family he resides with regardless?
"Yes", replied the CEO. "The parents know this may not work, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who express those doubts.
Another CEO, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides private tutors, commented that "the development of embracing two identities, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert explained that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised understanding and practicing dual heritages. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The notion that an individual can act as a living vessel of UK identity, someone who can possibly impart the characteristics of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and impractical," he stated.
"In my experience, having a typically English tutor from babyhood will not necessarily create the goal they desire.
"I did not have such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to live many of the situations they hope for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity should not be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, English culture is something the expert thinks can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the reality that the world regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
