"A household located in North London seeks an exceptional and experienced instructor to support their youngest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally miss the phrase "initial stages" as simple an expression.
However, it may be the most important part of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to find a mentor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of responses have now been submitted since the anonymous family published their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has received attention throughout the news, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding early skepticism, he found the idea "visionary", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he said they understood the atypical aspect of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already become established".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", he replied. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the older sibling had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid history to happen again with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the education at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will acquire the UK customs they aim to instil.
The consultant said the tutor needed to be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to influence the child in a diverse set of interests.
Additionally though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son grow into a "British gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he comments.
However, in spite of all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child adopt so-called cultural leaning from the multicultural family he lives with regardless?
"Certainly", said the CEO. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he said.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the tutoring industry who express similar concerns.
An education leader, head and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the process of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
He explained that he had relocated from Asia to the UK at the age of seven, and had been raised knowing and practicing both cultures. He progressed to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that a single person can function as a living vessel of English culture, someone who can in some way transplant the qualities of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he stated.
"Based on my background, having a distinctly British tutor from infancy will not necessarily produce the result they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the situations they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity can not be dictated from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something the expert hopes can be instructed – and sold.
"In my view the fact that the global community regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
