"A family based in North London seeks an extraordinary and skilled educator to assist their youngest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might easily overlook the wording "initial stages" as simple figurative language.
But, it may be the most significant aspect of this unique job advert, as it attempts to find a tutor for a infant.
Many of submissions have since been submitted since the anonymous family posted their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the post has received attention in the press, with many wondering why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, head and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their hunt, stated that despite first skepticism, he found the idea "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he said they understood the unconventional character of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
However, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had by then become established".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He stated the elder child had absorbed "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed him they wished to avoid history to recur with their infant.
The plan: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the education at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," stated the CEO.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will adopt the English characteristics they want to impart.
The consultant explained the tutor must be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed him the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son grow into a "English gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he notes.
Yet, notwithstanding all this instruction in "Britishness", would the child absorb so-called cultural influence from the international family he lives with in any case?
"Yes", replied Adam. "They know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Impractical
Several in the private teaching field who share these reservations.
Peter Cui, head and founder of Blue Education, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the process of becoming bicultural, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He explained that he had relocated from China to the United Kingdom at the period of 7 years old, and had been raised experiencing and practicing dual heritages. He went on to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that one individual can serve as a embodiment of English culture, an individual who can possibly impart the attributes of a English gentleman upon a infant child, appears idealistic and impractical," he stated.
"In my experience, having a typically English tutor from babyhood will will not necessarily create the result they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the experiences they hope for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, personal identity cannot be dictated from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, UK identity is something the CEO hopes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I think the situation that the international society regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
