"Parents based in north London is looking for an exceptional and qualified instructor to support their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might readily skip the term "initial stages" as simple a turn of phrase.
Yet, it might be the most significant element of this distinctive job advert, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a infant.
Numerous of submissions have already been received since the unnamed family posted their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted notice across the news, with numerous wondering why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding early skepticism, he considered the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they appreciated the unconventional nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", Adam answered. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the elder child had adopted "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family told Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The plan: To hire a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the outset here is rather osmotic," said the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will adopt the UK customs they want to instil.
The consultant said the tutor must be somebody who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family told him the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in horse riding, winter sports, 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 selection of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and provide access.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he adds.
However, despite all this instruction in "English culture", might the child adopt what is termed cultural bias from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Certainly", said Adam. "They understand this could fail, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as soon as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who have those concerns.
An education leader, chief executive of an educational organization, who provides private tutors, stated that "the development of becoming bicultural, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
The expert explained that he had emigrated from China to the Britain at the period of childhood, and had been raised understanding and embodying dual heritages. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that an individual can serve as a living vessel of UK identity, a person who can somehow transfer the attributes of a British gentleman upon a infant child, seems to me idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"In my experience, employing a distinctly UK tutor from infancy will not necessarily achieve the goal they hope for.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience numerous of the situations they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity can not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, English culture is something Adam hopes can be educated – and sold.
"In my view the fact that the world regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
