"A family residing in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and qualified tutor to assist their smallest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally skip the term "initial stages" as simple a turn of phrase.
Yet, it may be the crucial part of this unique employment listing, as it seeks to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of submissions have now been sent in since the unnamed family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the post has gained attention throughout the news, with numerous wondering why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their hunt, explained that despite early doubt, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he said they appreciated the unusual aspect of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam answered. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to the consultant they did not want the same situation to happen again with their new baby.
The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the education at the start here is kind of absorbed naturally," stated the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to instil.
Adam noted the tutor had to be someone who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed him the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a wide range of passions.
Additionally though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about achievement and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
But, despite all this guidance in "English culture", would the child adopt so-called cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Certainly", replied Adam. "The family realize this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as soon as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Impractical
Several in the tutoring industry who express these reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies personal educators, wrote that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
He wrote that he had emigrated from China to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated understanding and embodying two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can function as a living vessel of Britishness, someone who can possibly impart the attributes of a English gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as naive and unfeasible," he commented.
"In my experience, engaging a distinctly British tutor from infancy will will not necessarily produce the goal they hope for.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, self-identity should not be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, English culture is something Adam believes can be educated – and marketed.
"In my view the fact that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
