"A household residing in north London is looking for an extraordinary and skilled educator to assist their smallest child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might readily miss the phrase "initial stages" as simple figurative language.
Yet, it could be the crucial part of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to find a teacher for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of responses have already been sent in since the unnamed family posted their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted notice throughout the media, with numerous asking why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, stated that in spite of first scepticism, he considered the idea "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they understood the unconventional character of their request, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had by then set in".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", he answered. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family told the consultant they did not want this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the learning at the beginning here is kind of absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they want to cultivate.
Adam explained the tutor had to be someone who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator must be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or passion in equestrian activities, winter sports, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
Additionally though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son grow into a "British gentleman" will result in accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child absorb what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", answered Adam. "The family realize this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he said.
Impractical
A number of in the private teaching field who express those concerns.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter explained that he had emigrated from China to the United Kingdom at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and living dual heritages. He went on to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that an individual can function as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can in some way transfer the qualities of a British gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"In my experience, engaging a typically English tutor from babyhood will will not necessarily produce the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience many of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity can not be imposed from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, Britishness is something Adam believes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I think the situation that the world holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
