"Parents residing in the northern part of London seeks an exceptional and skilled educator to support their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might easily skip the phrase "beginning" as mere figurative language.
But, it may be the crucial element of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to find a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of applications have since been submitted since the anonymous family posted their search for the highly paid tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the post has gained notice in the press, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their hunt, explained that notwithstanding early skepticism, he found the idea "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they appreciated the unusual nature of their request, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already taken hold".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", he answered. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He said the firstborn had absorbed "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family told the consultant they did not want this pattern to happen again with their younger child.
The plan: To engage a British tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is kind of acquired indirectly," stated the CEO.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to instil.
He said the tutor needed to be somebody who attended "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed the expert the successful candidate should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he said the family desired the tutor to register the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about success and open doors.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child adopt what is termed cultural influence from the international family he is raised by anyway?
"Certainly", said he. "They realize this might not succeed, but they've just taken the view of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who have similar reservations.
An education leader, chief executive of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the period of 7 years old, and had been educated knowing and embodying dual heritages. He continued to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that one individual can function as a living vessel of English culture, someone who can somehow transfer the attributes of a UK sophisticate upon a infant child, seems to me idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"In my experience, engaging a typically English tutor from infancy will does not necessarily achieve the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity can not be dictated from the outside; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, Britishness is something Adam thinks can be taught – and marketed.
"I think the fact that the global community views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
