"A family based in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and skilled instructor to support their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might readily overlook the term "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the most significant element of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have since been sent in since the unidentified family published their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the advert has received attention throughout the news, with many wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their hunt, stated that notwithstanding early skepticism, he found the plan "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional aspect of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
However, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already become established".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert answered. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the older sibling had picked up "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their infant.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the development at the outset here is rather acquired indirectly," stated the CEO.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to instil.
The consultant noted the tutor must be somebody who went to "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Money No Object
The family explained to him the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, skiing, creative fields and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
More than that though, he stated the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "English culture", would the child pick up alleged cultural leaning from the international family he lives with regardless?
"Absolutely", answered Adam. "The parents understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he said.
Impractical
A number of in the private teaching field who share similar reservations.
An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
He noted that he had emigrated from China to the United Kingdom at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated experiencing and embodying dual heritages. He progressed to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that one individual can act as a living vessel of English culture, someone who can somehow transfer the qualities of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as idealistic and impractical," he stated.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially English tutor from infancy will will not automatically achieve the result they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to live several of the experiences they hope for their son."
He added: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, Britishness is something Adam thinks can be instructed – and sold.
"In my view the reality that the world regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
