"Parents located in North London is looking for an remarkable and experienced instructor to guide their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily skip the term "initial stages" as mere a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the most important aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it attempts to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have already been sent in since the unidentified family posted their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the listing has gained attention in the media, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their search, stated that in spite of early scepticism, he viewed the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he noted they understood the unusual aspect of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then set in".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", the expert answered. "How you eat, how you speak".
He stated the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they did not want history to repeat itself with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who must speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," said the expert.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they aim to instil.
He explained the tutor needed to be an individual who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Additionally though, he explained the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a range of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will result in achievement and create opportunities.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, despite all this tutelage in "Britishness", would the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by in any case?
"Certainly", said he. "The parents understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who share similar doubts.
Peter Cui, head and founder of Blue Education, who also offer private tutors, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
The expert noted that he had moved from the Far East to the UK at the period of seven, and had been educated experiencing and embodying dual heritages. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can function as a representation of UK identity, someone who can in some way transplant the characteristics of a UK sophisticate upon a infant child, strikes me as naive and unfeasible," he wrote.
"Based on my background, employing a typically British tutor from infancy will will not automatically produce the goal they hope for.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be imposed from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO believes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I think the fact that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
