"A family residing in the northern part of London wants to find an extraordinary and qualified instructor to support their smallest child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily skip the phrase "beginning" as simple figurative language.
Yet, it could be the most significant part of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to find a teacher for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have since been submitted since the unnamed family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the listing has gained interest across the news, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their hunt, explained that despite early scepticism, he considered the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he noted they recognized the atypical aspect of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam replied. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the firstborn had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is somewhat acquired indirectly," said the expert.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to impart.
He explained the tutor must be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – 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 doing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to the expert the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and music 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 range of courses so the child would be "horseback riding 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 "UK sophisticate" will bring about achievement and create opportunities.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
But, notwithstanding all this guidance in "UK identity", could the child adopt alleged cultural bias from the international family he resides with in any case?
"Yes", said the CEO. "They understand this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he stated.
Impractical
There are some in the private teaching field who share those doubts.
An education leader, head and founder of a tutoring service, who provides personal educators, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had relocated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the age of 7 years old, and had been raised knowing and practicing dual heritages. He went on to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can function as a representation of Britishness, an individual who can somehow transplant the attributes of a UK sophisticate upon a one-year-old child, seems to me idealistic and impractical," he stated.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly British tutor from infancy will not automatically create the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and however I have been privileged enough to experience several of the situations they hope for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity can not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Of course, Britishness is something the CEO believes can be taught – and commercialized.
"In my view the situation that the global community views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
