"A household based in North London wants to find an exceptional and skilled tutor to support their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might readily overlook the phrase "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it could be the most significant part of this distinctive job advert, as it seeks to recruit a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have already been received since the anonymous family published their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the listing has gained attention across the press, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, stated that despite initial doubt, he found the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they appreciated the atypical nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.
But, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already set in".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", the expert replied. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the firstborn had picked up "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family explained to the consultant they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The intention: To hire a UK tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the development at the outset here is kind of absorbed naturally," stated Adam.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will pick up the UK customs they wish to impart.
He explained the tutor must be someone who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed the expert the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or passion in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he stated the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
But, despite all this guidance in "UK identity", would the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by anyway?
"Yes", answered Adam. "The parents know this may not work, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who have these reservations.
An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who provides individual instructors, commented that "the process of embracing two identities, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He explained that he had moved from the Far East to the Britain at the time of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and practicing dual heritages. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The notion that one individual can function as a representation of English culture, an individual who can somehow transfer the characteristics of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a typically English tutor from early childhood will does not instantly achieve the result they want.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and however I have been privileged enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be forced from the outside; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the international society holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
