"A family based in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and qualified tutor to assist their youngest child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might easily miss the term "initial stages" as mere a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the most important aspect of this unusual job advert, as it attempts to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of responses have already been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their request for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the listing has gained interest throughout the news, with many asking why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their hunt, explained that despite first skepticism, he viewed the plan "visionary", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional aspect of their requirement, and how young 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 older child was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already set in".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam answered. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He explained the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family explained to him they wished to avoid this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the education at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," explained Adam.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will acquire the UK customs they wish to impart.
Adam explained the tutor needed to be someone who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, creative fields and music so as to shape the child in a wide range of passions.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son grow into a "English gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, despite all this tutelage in "English culture", might the child pick up what is termed cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with regardless?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "The parents understand this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the education sector who share these reservations.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
He noted that he had emigrated from China to the Britain at the age of childhood, and had been educated understanding and embodying both cultures. He continued to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that an individual can act as a embodiment of Britishness, a person who can somehow impart the characteristics of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, appears naive and impractical," he stated.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly British tutor from early childhood will will not automatically produce the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live many of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, self-identity cannot be forced from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, Britishness is something Adam believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"In my view the fact that the world regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
