"A household based in north London seeks an exceptional and experienced tutor to support their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might easily skip the phrase "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
However, it could be the crucial aspect of this unique job advert, as it attempts to find a tutor for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have already been submitted since the unnamed family posted their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the listing has received notice in the press, with numerous questioning why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their search, said that despite initial scepticism, he considered the concept "visionary", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he said they appreciated the unconventional character of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they stated 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 conditioning had already become established".
But what did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam responded. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He explained the elder child had picked up "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family told him they wished to avoid history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is rather osmotic," said the expert.
It's via this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will pick up the UK customs they wish to cultivate.
Adam said the tutor needed to be an individual who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, creative fields and music so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Additionally though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will bring about achievement and create opportunities.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he notes.
Yet, despite all this guidance in "English culture", could the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he resides with in any case?
"Certainly", replied Adam. "The parents know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the private teaching field who have similar doubts.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
Peter wrote that he had relocated from Asia to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and practicing dual heritages. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The notion that one individual can function as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can somehow impart the characteristics of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"Based on my background, engaging a typically British tutor from early childhood will does not necessarily create the outcome they want.
"I never had such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience many of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity cannot be forced from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be taught – and marketed.
"I think the fact that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
