"A family residing in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and qualified educator to support their most junior child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might naturally miss the phrase "beginning" as simple figurative language.
But, it might be the crucial aspect of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to hire a teacher for a infant.
Many of applications have now been received since the anonymous family published their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has attracted attention across the media, with many wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their hunt, stated that in spite of first skepticism, he considered the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they understood the unconventional aspect of their requirement, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the elder child had adopted "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their infant.
The intention: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is rather osmotic," stated the CEO.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they wish to impart.
Adam said the tutor had to be an individual who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family informed Adam the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in horse riding, alpine skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a wide range of passions.
Additionally though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son grow into a "English gentleman" will bring about achievement and provide access.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he comments.
However, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", would the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the international family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", said he. "The family understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he stated.
Impractical
There are some in the private teaching field who share those doubts.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, stated that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
He wrote that he had moved from China to the United Kingdom at the time of childhood, and had been brought up understanding and embodying dual heritages. He progressed to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The idea that an individual can serve as a living vessel of English culture, an individual who can in some way transplant the qualities of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"Based on my background, having a distinctly English tutor from early childhood will does not instantly produce the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to live several of the situations they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Of course, UK identity is something the CEO thinks can be taught – and marketed.
"In my view the situation that the world regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
