"Parents based in north London wants to find an exceptional and experienced educator to assist their youngest child on his initial journey to growing into an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily miss the wording "initial stages" as just figurative language.
Yet, it may be the crucial element of this unique employment listing, as it aims to recruit a teacher for a infant.
Many of applications have since been submitted since the unnamed family published their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted notice across the media, with several wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their search, said that in spite of early scepticism, he considered the plan "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he said they understood the unconventional aspect of their request, and how immature their son is.
But, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already become established".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the firstborn had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they hoped to prevent history to happen again with their infant.
The intention: To engage a UK tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the development at the beginning here is somewhat acquired indirectly," said Adam.
It's through this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will adopt the British traits they wish to cultivate.
Adam noted the tutor must be someone who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Furthermore though, he said the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a range of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he comments.
Yet, notwithstanding all this guidance in "UK identity", would the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he is raised by regardless?
"Yes", said he. "The parents understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who share these doubts.
Peter Cui, head and founder of an educational organization, who supplies private tutors, stated that "the process of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
He explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been educated knowing and living dual heritages. He went on to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can act as a embodiment of UK identity, a person who can somehow transplant the characteristics of a UK sophisticate onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"From my perspective, engaging a distinctly English tutor from babyhood will will not necessarily produce the goal they hope for.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to experience numerous of the situations they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, cultural identity can not be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, Britishness is something the expert hopes can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the international society regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
