"A household residing in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and skilled tutor to assist their youngest child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might naturally overlook the term "initial stages" as mere a turn of phrase.
But, it could be the most important aspect of this unique job advert, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have now been submitted since the unnamed family posted their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has received attention throughout the news, with several questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, explained that despite first skepticism, he found the idea "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he said they appreciated the atypical aspect of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the older sibling had adopted "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family informed him they did not want the same situation to repeat itself with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a UK tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the education at the start here is rather osmotic," explained Adam.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will adopt the British traits they want to cultivate.
He noted the tutor must be somebody who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and musical activities so as to shape the child in a wide range of interests.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son grow into a "English gentleman" will result in success and open doors.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he adds.
But, despite all this instruction in "English culture", could the child adopt what is termed cultural bias from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?
"Absolutely", said he. "The family know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the private teaching field who express similar doubts.
Another CEO, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had relocated from Asia to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been raised knowing and living both cultures. He continued to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that an individual can function as a representation of Britishness, an individual who can in some way transfer the attributes of a English gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me idealistic and impractical," he stated.
"In my experience, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will does not necessarily create the goal they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to enjoy many of the situations they hope for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity should not be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be taught – and sold.
"In my view the reality that the global community views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
