"Parents located in North London is looking for an exceptional and qualified tutor to support their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might readily miss the wording "beginning" as just figurative language.
However, it might be the most important element of this unique job advert, as it attempts to recruit a teacher for a one-year-old.
Many of applications have already been received since the anonymous family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the advert has attracted attention across the media, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their quest, said that in spite of early scepticism, he considered the plan "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they appreciated the unusual nature of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
But, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
But what does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert answered. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the older sibling had picked up "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family informed Adam they hoped to prevent history to recur with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the outset here is kind of osmotic," stated the CEO.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the British traits they want to cultivate.
He noted the tutor had to be someone who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed the expert the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of interests.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of lessons 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, helping their son grow into a "British gentleman" will result in success and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, in spite of all this tutelage in "UK identity", could the child adopt alleged cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Absolutely", said he. "The parents understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'we should try and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the education sector who have similar reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of an educational organization, who also offer personal educators, stated that "the process of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the time of seven, and had been raised experiencing and living dual heritages. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that one individual can act as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can in some way impart the attributes of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, appears optimistic and impractical," he stated.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly UK tutor from infancy will does not instantly create the outcome they hope for.
"I did not have such a figure, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to enjoy many of the situations they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, self-identity can not be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the international society views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
