"A family located in North London wants to find an extraordinary and skilled tutor to support their most junior child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily miss the term "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
But, it could be the most significant aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have now been received since the anonymous family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the advert has received notice in the news, with several wondering why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their hunt, stated that despite first skepticism, he viewed the concept "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he said they understood the atypical aspect of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
However, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert responded. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the firstborn had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family explained to him they did not want history to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a UK tutor, who must speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the development at the outset here is kind of absorbed naturally," stated Adam.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to cultivate.
Adam said the tutor had to be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed him the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, creative fields and music so as to influence the child in a wide range of passions.
Furthermore though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a range of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will result in achievement and create opportunities.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he adds.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "Britishness", would the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by in any case?
"Certainly", replied he. "The parents know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'we should try and let's go as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who share these doubts.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who also offer private tutors, commented that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of childhood, and had been brought up understanding and embodying both cultures. He progressed to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that one individual can serve as a representation of Britishness, an individual who can in some way transplant the qualities of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, appears naive and impractical," he commented.
"Based on my background, having a typically English tutor from infancy will will not automatically produce the goal they desire.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to experience many of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, personal identity can not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert believes can be taught – and marketed.
"In my view the reality that the international society regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
