"A family residing in the northern part of London seeks an remarkable and experienced tutor to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might readily skip the phrase "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
But, it might be the most important element of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to recruit a tutor for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have already been received since the anonymous family posted their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has received interest across the news, with many questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding first doubt, he viewed the plan "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
However, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already become established".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He said the older sibling had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to him they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their infant.
The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with RP, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the development at the beginning here is somewhat osmotic," said the expert.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will pick up the UK customs they wish to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be someone who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the chosen tutor should preferably also have understanding of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about achievement and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
But, despite all this instruction in "UK identity", might the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the international family he is raised by regardless?
"Absolutely", said Adam. "They realize this may not work, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the tutoring industry who share these doubts.
An education leader, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who also offer personal educators, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
The expert noted that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the time of seven, and had been brought up experiencing and living dual heritages. He went on to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that an individual can act as a embodiment of UK identity, an individual who can possibly transplant the attributes of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"From my perspective, employing a typically English tutor from early childhood will not instantly create the result they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and however I have been lucky enough to enjoy several of the situations they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be imposed from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the fact that the world regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating