"Parents located in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and qualified tutor to support their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might readily overlook the term "initial stages" as simple figurative language.
But, it could be the most significant part of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a one-year-old.
Numerous of responses have since been sent in since the anonymous family published their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has gained attention in the news, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding early scepticism, he considered the idea "visionary", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional nature of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
But, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then set in".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam answered. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family told Adam they did not want history to repeat itself with their infant.
The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," said Adam.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will acquire the British traits they aim to cultivate.
He noted the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told him the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in riding, skiing, creative fields and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of interests.
Additionally though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "UK sophisticate" will bring about success and provide access.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
However, despite all this tutelage in "UK identity", might the child absorb so-called cultural influence from the globally influenced family he is raised by in any case?
"Absolutely", said Adam. "The parents know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he said.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who have those doubts.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who provides private tutors, commented that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
He noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the age of childhood, and had been educated knowing and embodying dual heritages. He went on to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can function as a living vessel of Britishness, an individual who can somehow transplant the attributes of a UK sophisticate upon a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly British tutor from babyhood will does not instantly produce the outcome they want.
"I did not have such a figure, and however I have been lucky enough to live many of the situations they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert believes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the fact that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
