"A family residing in north London wants to find an extraordinary and qualified tutor to guide their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might readily skip the term "beginning" as simple a turn of phrase.
Yet, it may be the crucial part of this distinctive position posting, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of submissions have since been received since the unidentified family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the post has received attention in the media, with numerous asking why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding first skepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they appreciated the unconventional character of their request, and how early in age their son is.
But, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam answered. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He said the older sibling had adopted "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family informed the consultant they wished to avoid history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is rather absorbed naturally," stated the CEO.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to instil.
Adam noted the tutor needed to be an individual who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the successful candidate should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of classes 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, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to achievement and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he adds.
But, despite all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child pick up alleged cultural leaning from the international family he lives with regardless?
"Certainly", answered the CEO. "They know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who have similar reservations.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies private tutors, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
The expert explained that he had moved from Asia to the Britain at the age of 7 years old, and had been raised understanding and embodying both cultures. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that an individual can act as a representation of English culture, an individual who can possibly transfer the characteristics of a British gentleman to a infant child, appears idealistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"Based on my background, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from infancy will will not necessarily produce the goal they want.
"I did not have such a figure, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Of course, Britishness is something the expert believes can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the situation that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
