"Parents residing in north London wants to find an exceptional and skilled instructor to support their youngest child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might easily overlook the phrase "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it might be the crucial element of this unusual position posting, as it aims to hire a teacher for a one-year-old.
Numerous of submissions have now been received since the unidentified family advertised their request for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has received notice throughout the media, with numerous wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their hunt, stated that notwithstanding first skepticism, he found the concept "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional nature of their request, and how immature their son is.
However, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already set in".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the older sibling had absorbed "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed the consultant they did not want history to recur with their infant.
The intention: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the learning at the start here is rather osmotic," explained the expert.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the British traits they wish to instil.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – 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 don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told him the selected educator should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Additionally though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about success and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he notes.
Yet, in spite of all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the international family he lives with regardless?
"Certainly", said he. "The family know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he said.
Impractical
There are some in the education sector who express similar doubts.
Peter Cui, head and founder of an educational organization, who supplies private tutors, commented that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He explained that he had emigrated from China to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been raised experiencing and practicing both cultures. He progressed to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The concept that one individual can act as a embodiment of UK identity, someone who can somehow transplant the qualities of a British gentleman upon a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"In my experience, having a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will will not automatically achieve the result they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they hope for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, self-identity can not be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, UK identity is something Adam thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
