"Parents residing in the northern part of London wants to find an exceptional and qualified instructor to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally miss the phrase "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the most significant aspect of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a infant.
Numerous of applications have since been submitted since the unnamed family posted their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the post has attracted interest throughout the media, with several wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, stated that in spite of initial doubt, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they understood the unconventional aspect of their demand, and how immature their son is.
However, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the older sibling had adopted "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with RP, to influence the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the start here is rather acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to instil.
Adam explained the tutor needed to be an individual who attended "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told Adam the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in equestrian activities, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Additionally though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will result in accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
Yet, despite all this tutelage in "Britishness", would the child absorb what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he resides with regardless?
"Certainly", said the CEO. "The family know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who express similar doubts.
Peter Cui, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
He noted that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and practicing two backgrounds. He progressed to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that a single person can act as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can in some way transplant the characteristics of a UK sophisticate to a infant child, strikes me as naive and unfeasible," he stated.
"Based on my background, engaging a quintessentially UK tutor from early childhood will will not instantly produce the result they hope for.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, self-identity should not be dictated from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the fact that the world holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
