"A family based in North London is looking for an remarkable and skilled tutor to guide their most junior child on his initial journey to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the wording "initial stages" as simple a turn of phrase.
But, it could be the most important aspect of this unique job advert, as it seeks to recruit a mentor for a infant.
Numerous of responses have since been sent in since the unidentified family posted their request for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the listing has received notice throughout the media, with many questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, explained that despite early scepticism, he found the idea "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they understood the unconventional nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the older sibling had picked up "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed the consultant they wished to avoid this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the development at the beginning here is somewhat acquired indirectly," stated Adam.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to cultivate.
Adam explained the tutor must be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to the expert the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Additionally though, he said the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about success and open doors.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "Britishness", would the child pick up alleged cultural leaning from the international family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", said Adam. "The parents realize this may not work, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the private teaching field who express those concerns.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
Peter noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the age of seven, and had been educated knowing and living both cultures. He continued to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a embodiment of Britishness, an individual who can possibly impart the attributes of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and impractical," he stated.
"Based on my background, employing a distinctly UK tutor from infancy will does not instantly create the result they desire.
"I did not have such a tutor, and however I have been lucky enough to experience numerous of the situations they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the international society holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
