"Parents located in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and qualified educator to support their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might readily miss the term "initial stages" as mere a turn of phrase.
But, it could be the most significant aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to find a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have since been sent in since the unnamed family posted their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the listing has attracted notice across the media, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that in spite of early doubt, he viewed the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he said they appreciated the atypical character of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then set in".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", he replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the firstborn had adopted "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid history to repeat itself with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who must speak with RP, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the development at the beginning here is somewhat absorbed naturally," stated the expert.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the UK customs they wish to impart.
The consultant said the tutor needed to be an individual who studied at "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about achievement and create opportunities.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
But, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "English culture", might the child adopt what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he lives with in any case?
"Yes", replied he. "The parents know this may not work, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he said.
Impractical
A number of in the private teaching field who have similar concerns.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, commented that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
He wrote that he had moved from China to the Britain at the age of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and living dual heritages. He progressed to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can act as a embodiment of UK identity, a person who can possibly impart the attributes of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, appears optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"In my experience, engaging a quintessentially UK tutor from early childhood will will not necessarily achieve the result they desire.
"I did not have such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy many of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity should not be dictated from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, Britishness is something Adam believes can be taught – and sold.
"I believe the situation that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
