"Parents residing in north London seeks an remarkable and skilled educator to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might naturally skip the wording "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
However, it might be the most important part of this distinctive employment listing, as it aims to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have now been received since the unnamed family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the listing has attracted interest throughout the news, with numerous wondering why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their hunt, stated that despite initial skepticism, he found the idea "visionary", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional aspect of their demand, and how young their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had by then set in".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam replied. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He said the older sibling had adopted "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed the consultant they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their infant.
The plan: To engage a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is somewhat absorbed naturally," stated the CEO.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the English characteristics they want to impart.
He noted the tutor must be an individual who studied at "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told him the successful candidate should preferably also have understanding of or interest in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
More than that though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about success and open doors.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he adds.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "UK identity", might the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Certainly", said he. "The family realize this might not succeed, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he stated.
Impractical
Several in the private teaching field who share similar doubts.
An education leader, head and founder of a tutoring service, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the process of becoming bicultural, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
Peter explained that he had moved from the Far East to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been raised understanding and practicing both cultures. He progressed to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that an individual can serve as a living vessel of Britishness, an individual who can in some way impart the attributes of a English gentleman upon a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a typically British tutor from babyhood will not instantly achieve the outcome they desire.
"I never had such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the experiences they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, personal identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and marketed.
"In my view the situation that the international society views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
