"Parents based in North London is looking for an extraordinary and skilled instructor to assist their smallest child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might readily skip the wording "initial stages" as mere a turn of phrase.
Yet, it might be the most significant element of this distinctive position posting, as it attempts to find a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have since been received since the unnamed family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the post has received interest in the media, with several questioning why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that despite early doubt, he viewed the idea "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical character of their demand, and how immature their son is.
However, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural bias had by then taken hold".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family explained to the consultant they did not want this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To bring in a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is somewhat acquired indirectly," explained Adam.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they want to instil.
He said the tutor needed to be someone who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Money No Object
The family explained to him the selected educator should preferably also have understanding of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
More than that though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will result in achievement and provide access.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he notes.
But, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child adopt alleged cultural leaning from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Certainly", answered Adam. "They understand this may not work, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who have these doubts.
An education leader, chief executive of Blue Education, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the process of becoming bicultural, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
The expert noted that he had moved from Asia to the United Kingdom at the time of seven, and had been brought up understanding and living both cultures. He went on to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that one individual can function as a representation of Britishness, someone who can somehow impart the qualities of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, appears idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"In my experience, having a typically English tutor from babyhood will will not instantly achieve the goal they desire.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the world holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
