"A household residing in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and experienced educator to assist their most junior child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might readily miss the phrase "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it may be the most important element of this distinctive job advert, as it seeks to recruit a tutor for a one-year-old.
Many of submissions have now been received since the unidentified family posted their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has gained attention across the news, with several wondering why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding initial skepticism, he considered the idea "visionary", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they appreciated the unconventional nature of their request, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, 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 age "cultural conditioning had already set in".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", he replied. "How you eat, how you speak".
He stated the elder child had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The strategy: To bring in a UK tutor, who should speak with RP, to shape the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is rather absorbed naturally," stated Adam.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will acquire the English characteristics they wish to cultivate.
He explained the tutor had to be someone who went to "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed him the chosen tutor should preferably also have familiarity of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, creative fields and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and provide access.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", could the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the international family he resides with anyway?
"Absolutely", answered the CEO. "The family know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as early as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he said.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the private teaching field who share these reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of a tutoring service, who supplies personal educators, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
The expert explained that he had moved from the Far East to the UK at the time of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and living two backgrounds. He progressed to learn at Cambridge University.
"The notion that a single person can function as a living vessel of English culture, someone who can somehow impart the characteristics of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and unrealistic," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will not instantly produce the result they desire.
"I never had such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to live many of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, self-identity can not be dictated from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something the expert hopes can be instructed – and sold.
"I believe the situation that the international society regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
