"A family based in North London seeks an extraordinary and qualified educator to guide their youngest child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might readily skip the wording "initial stages" as mere an expression.
However, it might be the most significant part of this distinctive position posting, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Many of responses have since been sent in since the unidentified family published their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the post has gained attention throughout the media, with many asking why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding initial doubt, he found the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they understood the unconventional nature of their demand, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified 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 age "cultural bias had by then set in".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", he replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the firstborn had absorbed "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family told the consultant they did not want the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is rather absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will pick up the UK customs they wish to impart.
Adam said the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told the expert the selected educator should preferably also have understanding of or passion in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
Additionally though, he explained the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
But, in spite of all this tutelage in "UK identity", might the child pick up alleged cultural influence from the international family he resides with regardless?
"Yes", said the CEO. "The parents know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who share those reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who supplies personal educators, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
He explained that he had moved from China to the UK at the time of seven, and had been educated knowing and living both cultures. He progressed to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a embodiment of Britishness, an individual who can in some way transfer the qualities of a English gentleman onto a infant child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"In my experience, having a typically English tutor from babyhood will not automatically create the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to live several of the experiences they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, personal identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be taught – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the international society regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
