"A household residing in north London is looking for an exceptional and skilled educator to guide their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might naturally overlook the phrase "beginning" as simple a turn of phrase.
But, it could be the most significant element of this unique position posting, as it aims to recruit a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have already been received since the unnamed family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received notice throughout the news, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that despite initial skepticism, he found the idea "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional character of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
However, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then taken hold".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert responded. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the firstborn had picked up "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they hoped to prevent history to happen again with their new baby.
The intention: To hire a British tutor, who must speak with RP, to guide the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the education at the start here is kind of osmotic," said Adam.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will acquire the British traits they wish to impart.
The consultant said the tutor needed to be an individual who studied at "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, winter sports, creative fields and music so as to shape the child in a wide range of interests.
More than that though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a range of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son become a "UK sophisticate" will bring about accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he comments.
However, notwithstanding all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he is raised by anyway?
"Certainly", replied Adam. "The parents know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he said.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who have these doubts.
Another CEO, chief executive of an educational organization, who supplies private tutors, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
Peter explained that he had emigrated from China to the Britain at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated experiencing and living both cultures. He progressed to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that a single person can act as a representation of UK identity, someone who can possibly transplant the attributes of a UK sophisticate onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"Based on my background, employing a quintessentially British tutor from babyhood will not automatically produce the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be taught – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the global community holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
