"A household based in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and qualified instructor to guide their most junior child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might readily overlook the term "initial stages" as mere a turn of phrase.
Yet, it may be the most significant aspect of this distinctive position posting, as it seeks to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have already been submitted since the anonymous family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has gained attention across the press, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that despite early scepticism, he found the idea "visionary", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional aspect of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
But what does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam answered. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the older sibling had picked up "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family informed the consultant they did not want this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the outset here is rather absorbed naturally," stated the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to instil.
Adam noted the tutor must be an individual who attended "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to him the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of interests.
More than that though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will result in success and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", could the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?
"Certainly", replied he. "The parents know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as early as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.
Impractical
A number of in the private teaching field who have similar reservations.
An education leader, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, stated that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
Peter wrote that he had relocated from China to the UK at the period of seven, and had been raised understanding and embodying dual heritages. He continued to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that one individual can serve as a representation of Britishness, an individual who can in some way transfer the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a 12-month-old child, seems to me naive and unrealistic," he commented.
"From my perspective, engaging a typically UK tutor from babyhood will will not instantly create the result they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, self-identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, Britishness is something the expert hopes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the world regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
