"A household residing in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and skilled educator to assist their youngest child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily miss the term "beginning" as simple figurative language.
Yet, it could be the most significant aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have already been submitted since the unnamed family published their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has attracted notice in the press, with several wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their hunt, stated that notwithstanding initial skepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he said they appreciated the atypical character of their demand, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated 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 point "cultural influence had already set in".
But what does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam answered. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the firstborn had adopted "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their new baby.
The strategy: To bring in a UK tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the development at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the UK customs they wish to instil.
Adam explained the tutor must be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed him the successful candidate should preferably also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
More than that though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a range of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "English gentleman" will result in achievement and provide access.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he comments.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "English culture", would the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "The family know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the tutoring industry who express similar doubts.
An education leader, chief executive of a tutoring service, who supplies individual instructors, stated that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
He wrote that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of childhood, and had been educated understanding and practicing both cultures. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that an individual can function as a living vessel of Britishness, a person who can possibly transplant the qualities of a British gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he stated.
"Based on my background, having a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will not necessarily achieve the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and however I have been fortunate enough to live several of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
