"A family based in North London wants to find an extraordinary and qualified tutor to guide their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might readily skip the phrase "beginning" as simple figurative language.
However, it could be the most significant part of this unique position posting, as it seeks to recruit a mentor for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have already been received since the anonymous family advertised their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted interest in the press, with many asking why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that notwithstanding first scepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he noted they appreciated the unusual aspect of their demand, and how immature their son is.
But, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had by then become established".
But what does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", the expert responded. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the elder child had picked up "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to the consultant they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The intention: To hire a British tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is rather acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they wish to instil.
Adam said the tutor must be somebody who attended "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or interest in horse riding, skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will bring about achievement and provide access.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he notes.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child adopt what is termed cultural influence from the international family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", answered Adam. "They understand this could fail, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the private teaching field who have those doubts.
Another CEO, chief executive of an educational organization, who also offer individual instructors, stated that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
Peter noted that he had relocated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying both cultures. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can function as a embodiment of Britishness, someone who can in some way transplant the characteristics of a English gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"Based on my background, having a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will will not automatically achieve the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to enjoy numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, personal identity should not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I believe the situation that the global community views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
