"A family residing in North London wants to find an exceptional and qualified tutor to guide their youngest child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might readily miss the wording "initial stages" as just figurative language.
Yet, it may be the most important part of this unusual position posting, as it aims to recruit a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have already been received since the unidentified family posted their request for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the listing has gained interest throughout the media, with several questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that notwithstanding initial scepticism, he considered the idea "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he said they appreciated the atypical nature of their request, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already set in".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He stated the older sibling had picked up "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family told Adam they did not want the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The plan: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the start here is somewhat osmotic," stated Adam.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to instil.
He explained the tutor needed to be an individual who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must 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 explained to Adam the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or passion in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and provide access.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he comments.
Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "English culture", might the child absorb what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by in any case?
"Absolutely", replied the CEO. "They know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as early 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 share these doubts.
An education leader, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, stated that "the development of becoming bicultural, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
Peter explained that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the time of seven, and had been brought up knowing and living both cultures. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a living vessel of UK identity, a person who can in some way transfer the qualities of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"Based on my background, engaging a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will will not automatically create the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live several of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, personal identity should not be dictated from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, UK identity is something Adam believes can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the situation that the global community holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
