"A family located in North London wants to find an extraordinary and qualified tutor to guide their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily overlook the term "initial stages" as mere an expression.
However, it may be the most important part of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of responses have now been submitted since the anonymous family posted their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the listing has attracted notice in the press, with many asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, said that in spite of initial scepticism, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they understood the unusual character of their request, and how early in age their son is.
But, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam answered. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told Adam they hoped to prevent the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is somewhat acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will acquire the British traits they aim to instil.
He noted the tutor must be someone who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family explained to him the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son become a "British gentleman" will bring about achievement and open doors.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
However, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", would the child pick up what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", replied he. "The family understand this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'why not attempt it and we should start 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 have those doubts.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, wrote that "the process of embracing two identities, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
The expert noted that he had moved from China to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated knowing and living dual heritages. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can function as a representation of Britishness, a person who can somehow transplant the attributes of a UK sophisticate upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and unfeasible," he stated.
"In my experience, having a typically British tutor from early childhood will does not automatically achieve the goal they desire.
"I did not have such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the situations they aspire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, self-identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be taught – and sold.
"I believe the fact that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
