"A family residing in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and qualified instructor to support their youngest child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might readily overlook the phrase "beginning" as mere an expression.
Yet, it may be the most significant element of this unusual job advert, as it attempts to recruit a teacher for a infant.
Many of applications have now been sent in since the unnamed family posted their request for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has attracted attention in the media, with many asking why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, explained that notwithstanding first doubt, he considered the plan "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they understood the unconventional character of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", he replied. "How you eat, how you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told Adam they did not want history to happen again with their new baby.
The intention: To bring in a English tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," explained the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the UK customs they wish to impart.
He said the tutor needed to be somebody who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to Adam the chosen tutor should preferably also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Furthermore though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son grow into a "British gentleman" will bring about achievement and provide access.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
Yet, despite all this tutelage in "UK identity", could the child adopt alleged cultural influence from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "The family understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the education sector who share similar concerns.
Another CEO, chief executive of a tutoring service, who also offer private tutors, stated that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
He noted that he had relocated from Asia to the UK at the time of seven, and had been raised knowing and living both cultures. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can act as a representation of English culture, someone who can possibly impart the attributes of a UK sophisticate upon a infant child, seems to me idealistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"Based on my background, having a typically English tutor from infancy will does not necessarily achieve the outcome they hope for.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to live many of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, personal identity can not be dictated from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, English culture is something the expert thinks can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the situation that the global community views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
