"A household located in North London wants to find an remarkable and qualified educator to guide their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might easily miss the phrase "initial stages" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it might be the crucial aspect of this distinctive position posting, as it seeks to recruit a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of applications have since been submitted since the unnamed family published their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the post has received notice throughout the media, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their hunt, explained that in spite of first doubt, he viewed the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional nature of their request, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already set in".
But what did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", Adam responded. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family told him they did not want history to recur with their infant.
The intention: To engage a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the beginning here is kind of absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they want to impart.
Adam noted the tutor had to be somebody who went to "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
More than that though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will result in achievement and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, despite all this guidance in "English culture", might the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he lives with regardless?
"Certainly", said he. "The parents know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who express those doubts.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer personal educators, stated that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
He noted that he had relocated from Asia to the Britain at the time of seven, and had been raised knowing and living two backgrounds. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The idea that an individual can serve as a embodiment of English culture, a person who can in some way transplant the qualities of a UK sophisticate to a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, having a typically UK tutor from early childhood will does not automatically achieve the outcome they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to enjoy several of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, self-identity can not be dictated from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, English culture is something Adam hopes can be taught – and sold.
"I think the reality that the world views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
