"Parents based in North London wants to find an exceptional and experienced tutor to assist their smallest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might readily overlook the phrase "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it might be the most significant aspect of this unique job advert, as it aims to find a tutor for a infant.
Numerous of applications have since been submitted since the anonymous family published their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted interest in the media, with many wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their search, stated that in spite of first scepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the unusual nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already set in".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", the expert answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the older sibling had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family informed the consultant they did not want history to happen again with their infant.
The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the learning at the beginning here is kind of absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will adopt the British traits they wish to impart.
The consultant explained the tutor must be someone who went to "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or interest in horse riding, skiing, creative fields and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Additionally though, he said the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a range of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will lead to success and open doors.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.
But, in spite of all this instruction in "English culture", could the child adopt alleged cultural leaning from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Yes", said Adam. "The parents realize this might not succeed, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the private teaching field who have these reservations.
Another CEO, chief executive of Blue Education, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
He wrote that he had relocated from China to the United Kingdom at the age of childhood, and had been raised understanding and practicing two backgrounds. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The notion that one individual can serve as a living vessel of Britishness, an individual who can in some way impart the characteristics of a UK sophisticate onto a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and impractical," he commented.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will will not instantly produce the result they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to enjoy several of the situations they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, self-identity cannot be forced from the outside; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"In my view the fact that the global community views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
