"A family residing in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and skilled instructor to support their youngest child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might readily skip the phrase "first-steps" as mere an expression.
But, it might be the most important element of this unusual position posting, as it aims to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have already been submitted since the unidentified family advertised their call for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the advert has received interest throughout the news, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that despite initial skepticism, he viewed the plan "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he noted they recognized the unusual nature of their request, and how early in age their son is.
However, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already set in".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the elder child had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family informed the consultant they hoped to prevent history to recur with their younger child.
The strategy: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is somewhat acquired indirectly," said the CEO.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will adopt the UK customs they want to instil.
The consultant explained the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed Adam the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a wide range of passions.
More than that though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
But, notwithstanding all this instruction in "English culture", would the child adopt alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Absolutely", answered Adam. "The family understand this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the tutoring industry who have these concerns.
Another CEO, chief executive of an educational organization, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
The expert noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been educated understanding and living two backgrounds. He went on to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that a single person can serve as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can somehow impart the attributes of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and impractical," he stated.
"In my experience, having a distinctly English tutor from infancy will does not necessarily achieve the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to enjoy several of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert believes can be instructed – and marketed.
"In my view the reality that the global community regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
