"A family based in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and skilled instructor to support their most junior child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally skip the phrase "initial stages" as simple a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the crucial part of this unique employment listing, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have since been received since the unidentified family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the listing has attracted attention throughout the news, with many questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their hunt, said that notwithstanding first scepticism, he viewed the concept "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he noted they understood the unconventional character of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", Adam replied. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the elder child had picked up "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a British tutor, who must speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the education at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," explained Adam.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the UK customs they wish to cultivate.
He explained the tutor needed to be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator must be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in riding, alpine skiing, the arts and music so as to influence the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son become a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
However, despite all this guidance in "UK identity", would the child pick up what is termed cultural influence from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Absolutely", said the CEO. "The parents understand this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as soon as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the education sector who share similar doubts.
Another CEO, chief executive of a tutoring service, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the development of becoming bicultural, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the age of seven, and had been raised knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that a single person can function as a representation of UK identity, someone who can in some way transplant the attributes of a British gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, appears idealistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"Based on my background, employing a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will will not necessarily achieve the goal they desire.
"I did not have such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to live many of the situations they desire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert believes can be taught – and commercialized.
"In my view the situation that the international society regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
