"A household based in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and skilled tutor to support their youngest child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might easily miss the term "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
However, it might be the most significant aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to find a tutor for a one-year-old.
Many of applications have since been received since the anonymous family published their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the post has attracted attention throughout the news, with several asking why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, stated that in spite of early doubt, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional character of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already taken hold".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", he answered. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the elder child had absorbed "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family told him they wished to avoid the same situation to repeat itself with their new baby.
The intention: To bring in a English tutor, who must speak with RP, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the development at the beginning here is somewhat osmotic," said Adam.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will acquire the British traits they wish to impart.
The consultant said the tutor must be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to Adam the selected educator should preferably also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
More than that though, he stated the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son grow into a "British gentleman" will result in success and open doors.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he comments.
Yet, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", might the child adopt so-called cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he is raised by in any case?
"Absolutely", replied the CEO. "They know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the education sector who express those reservations.
Peter Cui, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
The expert wrote that he had relocated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been educated experiencing and embodying both cultures. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that one individual can function as a representation of UK identity, a person who can possibly transplant the qualities of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, appears idealistic and impractical," he commented.
"Based on my background, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will does not necessarily produce the goal they want.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to experience many of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, English culture is something the CEO believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I think the fact that the world holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
