"Parents based in north London wants to find an remarkable and qualified educator to guide their smallest child on his early path to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might readily miss the term "initial stages" as just figurative language.
However, it may be the most important element of this unique position posting, as it seeks to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have now been submitted since the unnamed family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained attention across the media, with numerous wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that notwithstanding early scepticism, he viewed the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical character of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already become established".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", the expert responded. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He stated the firstborn had adopted "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family explained to him they did not want history to repeat itself with their infant.
The intention: To bring in a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the development at the start here is kind of acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will adopt the British traits they aim to cultivate.
Adam noted the tutor must be somebody who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to the expert the chosen tutor should preferably also have understanding of or passion in equestrian activities, skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Furthermore though, he said the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son become a "English gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and open doors.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
However, in spite of all this instruction in "English culture", might the child adopt so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by anyway?
"Absolutely", answered Adam. "They realize this could fail, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he stated.
Impractical
Several in the private teaching field who have those reservations.
Peter Cui, head and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies individual instructors, commented that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
Peter noted that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated understanding and living dual heritages. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The idea that an individual can serve as a living vessel of UK identity, an individual who can possibly transfer the attributes of a UK sophisticate onto a infant child, appears idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"In my experience, having a typically English tutor from infancy will not automatically create the result they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the expert hopes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I think the fact that the international society holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
