"A family located in North London wants to find an remarkable and qualified tutor to support their most junior child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might readily overlook the wording "first-steps" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it might be the crucial aspect of this unique employment listing, as it seeks to recruit a tutor for a infant.
Hundreds of submissions have already been submitted since the anonymous family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the listing has received interest in the press, with several wondering why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, stated that in spite of initial doubt, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he said they understood the atypical aspect of their demand, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already set in".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had absorbed "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The intention: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the learning at the beginning here is rather absorbed naturally," explained the CEO.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to impart.
The consultant explained the tutor must be somebody who attended "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed him the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in equestrian activities, skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
More than that though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son grow into a "British gentleman" will result in accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this instruction in "English culture", might the child absorb what is termed cultural influence from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", replied the CEO. "The family know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who express these concerns.
An education leader, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, stated that "the development of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
Peter noted that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been educated knowing and practicing both cultures. He progressed to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that one individual can act as a representation of English culture, someone who can possibly transfer the qualities of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, seems to me idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly English tutor from infancy will does not instantly create the goal they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy many of the experiences they hope for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, personal identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, Britishness is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and marketed.
"In my view the fact that the world views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
