"A family located in north London seeks an exceptional and experienced educator to support their smallest child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally miss the phrase "initial stages" as just figurative language.
However, it could be the most significant element of this unusual job advert, as it seeks to find a mentor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of responses have since been sent in since the unnamed family advertised their call for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has attracted attention throughout the news, with several asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their quest, said that in spite of initial skepticism, he found the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they understood the unconventional nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.
But, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already set in".
But what does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", he responded. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family explained to the consultant they wished to avoid history to happen again with their infant.
The strategy: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is rather acquired indirectly," explained the expert.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they aim to cultivate.
The consultant explained the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed him the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
Additionally though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.
However, despite all this instruction in "English culture", would the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the international family he resides with in any case?
"Absolutely", replied Adam. "The family know this might not succeed, but they've just taken the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Impractical
A number of in the private teaching field who have similar reservations.
Another CEO, chief executive of Blue Education, who provides personal educators, wrote that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert noted that he had emigrated from Asia to the Britain at the age of seven, and had been raised knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He progressed to learn at Cambridge University.
"The notion that an individual can function as a embodiment of Britishness, an individual who can somehow impart the characteristics of a English gentleman onto a infant child, seems to me idealistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"Based on my background, employing a typically British tutor from infancy will does not necessarily produce the goal they desire.
"I did not have such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity can not be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Of course, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be educated – and sold.
"I believe the fact that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
