"Parents residing in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and qualified educator to assist their youngest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might readily overlook the wording "beginning" as simple a turn of phrase.
But, it may be the most important part of this unique position posting, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have since been received since the unnamed family published their call for the highly paid tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the advert has attracted attention in the news, with several questioning why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their hunt, said that despite early skepticism, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they understood the unconventional character of their request, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", Adam answered. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the elder child had picked up "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family told the consultant they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their infant.
The strategy: To bring in a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is kind of absorbed naturally," stated the CEO.
It's through this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will acquire the British traits they want to cultivate.
Adam said the tutor must be someone who went to "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told Adam the selected educator should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in riding, skiing, the arts and music so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will result in accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he comments.
But, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", would the child pick up so-called cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he lives with in any case?
"Yes", replied the CEO. "They realize this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the education sector who express these reservations.
Peter Cui, head and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies personal educators, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and practicing two backgrounds. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that one individual can serve as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can in some way transplant the qualities of a UK sophisticate to a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly UK tutor from infancy will not instantly produce the goal they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to live many of the experiences they hope for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, personal identity should not be forced from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be instructed – and sold.
"In my view the fact that the international society views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
