"A household based in North London is looking for an exceptional and skilled instructor to assist their youngest child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally miss the phrase "initial stages" as simple an expression.
However, it might be the most significant aspect of this unusual job advert, as it seeks to find a mentor for a infant.
Hundreds of applications have since been received since the anonymous family advertised their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the post has attracted interest in the media, with numerous wondering why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding first doubt, he found the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he said they recognized the unconventional aspect of their requirement, and how young 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 age "cultural influence had already become established".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert responded. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He said the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To bring in a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the development at the start here is rather acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to impart.
Adam said the tutor needed to be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son grow into a "British gentleman" will lead to achievement and provide access.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he adds.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", would the child adopt what is termed cultural leaning from the multicultural family he lives with regardless?
"Absolutely", replied he. "The parents understand this may not work, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who have those reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides private tutors, commented that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
He explained that he had relocated from China to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been brought up understanding and embodying two backgrounds. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The concept that a single person can act as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can in some way transplant the qualities of a British gentleman to a infant child, seems to me naive and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, having a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will does not automatically achieve the outcome they desire.
"I did not have such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to experience several of the situations they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, cultural identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the global community views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
