"Parents residing in North London seeks an extraordinary and skilled tutor to support their most junior child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally miss the term "initial stages" as simple an expression.
However, it could be the most significant element of this unusual job advert, as it seeks to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Many of applications have already been received since the unnamed family posted their search for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the post has received interest across the press, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their hunt, stated that notwithstanding first doubt, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they recognized the atypical nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already become established".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the older sibling had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family told Adam they did not want the same situation to repeat itself with their younger child.
The plan: To engage a UK tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to impart.
Adam said the tutor needed to be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to Adam the successful candidate should preferably also have knowledge of or interest in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he comments.
But, despite all this tutelage in "UK identity", could the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "The family realize this may not work, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as early as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he stated.
Impractical
Several in the private teaching field who express these concerns.
Another CEO, chief executive of a tutoring service, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter wrote that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and living both cultures. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can function as a living vessel of Britishness, an individual who can somehow impart the attributes of a British gentleman to a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly UK tutor from infancy will does not automatically achieve the goal they want.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been privileged enough to experience many of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, cultural identity can not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the global community views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
