"A family residing in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and skilled tutor to assist their most junior child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the term "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it may be the most significant part of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of responses have now been received since the unidentified family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has received attention across the press, with many wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their search, explained that despite early scepticism, he considered the concept "visionary", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he said they understood the unconventional nature of their request, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", Adam replied. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family told him they did not want this pattern to happen again with their younger child.
The strategy: To bring in a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the education at the start here is rather acquired indirectly," stated Adam.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will pick up the British traits they want to impart.
He noted the tutor needed to be an individual who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed him the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or interest in equestrian activities, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son grow into a "British gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and open doors.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he comments.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "Britishness", might the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the globally influenced family he lives with in any case?
"Yes", said he. "They know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the private teaching field who share these concerns.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, stated that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
He explained that he had emigrated from China to the United Kingdom at the age of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and living both cultures. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The idea that an individual can function as a living vessel of UK identity, an individual who can in some way transplant the characteristics of a UK sophisticate onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, employing a distinctly British tutor from babyhood will does not automatically produce the goal they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the situations they aspire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, English culture is something the expert hopes can be educated – and sold.
"I think the fact that the world holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
