"Parents located in north London is looking for an extraordinary and experienced educator to support their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might readily skip the wording "initial stages" as mere an expression.
However, it could be the most significant part of this distinctive employment listing, as it aims to recruit a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of applications have now been received since the anonymous family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received interest throughout the media, with many asking why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their search, stated that in spite of first doubt, he found the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional character of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the older sibling had adopted "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family told him they did not want this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to instil.
Adam explained the tutor must be an individual who attended "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator must be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told Adam the successful candidate should preferably also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in riding, skiing, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Additionally though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of classes 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 view, assisting their son develop into a "English gentleman" will result in success and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "UK identity", might the child absorb what is termed cultural bias from the international family he resides with regardless?
"Certainly", replied Adam. "The family know this may not work, but they've just taken the view of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he stated.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who have those doubts.
An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
He noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the period of childhood, and had been raised understanding and embodying two backgrounds. He went on to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that an individual can serve as a representation of Britishness, an individual who can somehow transplant the qualities of a UK sophisticate upon a 12-month-old child, seems to me idealistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"In my experience, having a quintessentially English tutor from babyhood will does not instantly produce the result they want.
"I did not have such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience numerous of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be forced from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, UK identity is something Adam thinks can be taught – and sold.
"I believe the fact that the world regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
