"A family residing in north London seeks an extraordinary and skilled tutor to assist their youngest child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might readily skip the phrase "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it may be the most significant element of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to hire a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Many of submissions have already been received since the unidentified family advertised their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the listing has gained attention across the news, with numerous wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, head and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding first scepticism, he considered the plan "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he said they appreciated the unconventional character of their requirement, and how young their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already become established".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam answered. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to him they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with RP, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," stated the expert.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will pick up the British traits they aim to cultivate.
Adam noted the tutor had to be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son become a "English gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and open doors.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he adds.
But, despite all this guidance in "UK identity", would the child adopt alleged cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he is raised by in any case?
"Yes", replied he. "They know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the education sector who share these doubts.
An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies personal educators, commented that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
He explained that he had relocated from Asia to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been raised knowing and practicing both cultures. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The idea that a single person can serve as a embodiment of English culture, a person who can somehow transplant the attributes of a English gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will not instantly produce the goal they want.
"I did not have such a tutor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, personal identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, English culture is something the expert thinks can be taught – and sold.
"I think the situation that the world regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
