"A family residing in North London wants to find an remarkable and experienced educator to assist their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might easily overlook the wording "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the most significant aspect of this distinctive position posting, as it aims to recruit a tutor for a infant.
Numerous of applications have since been submitted since the anonymous family published their search for the highly paid tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the listing has received notice across the news, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their hunt, explained that in spite of initial doubt, he considered the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they understood the unusual nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", he replied. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they did not want history to happen again with their younger child.
The strategy: To bring in a UK tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the learning at the beginning here is somewhat osmotic," explained the expert.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the British traits they aim to instil.
Adam noted the tutor had to be someone who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to influence the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", would the child adopt what is termed cultural influence from the international family he is raised by anyway?
"Certainly", said he. "They know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the private teaching field who share these reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of a tutoring service, who provides personal educators, stated that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had emigrated from China to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that an individual can act as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can possibly impart the qualities of a UK sophisticate onto a infant child, appears naive and impractical," he commented.
"Based on my background, employing a distinctly English tutor from infancy will not instantly create the result they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live several of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, self-identity can not be forced from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, UK identity is something the expert believes can be taught – and marketed.
"I think the situation that the international society regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
