"A family residing in north London wants to find an extraordinary and skilled tutor to support their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the phrase "beginning" as mere figurative language.
However, it may be the most significant element of this distinctive job advert, as it seeks to find a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Many of applications have already been received since the unidentified family published their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received notice in the news, with numerous wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that despite initial scepticism, he considered the concept "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional aspect 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 waited until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family told Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to happen again with their new baby.
The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is rather acquired indirectly," stated the CEO.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to cultivate.
Adam noted the tutor needed to be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories 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 aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Money No Object
The family informed him the selected educator should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in riding, skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will lead to success and provide access.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he adds.
However, despite all this guidance in "English culture", would the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he resides with regardless?
"Yes", answered he. "The family know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the education sector who have those concerns.
An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, wrote that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
He explained that he had relocated from the Far East to the Britain at the age of seven, and had been raised knowing and living dual heritages. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can function as a representation of UK identity, a person who can somehow transfer the attributes of a British gentleman onto a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially British tutor from babyhood will does not automatically achieve the goal they want.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been privileged enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they hope for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, personal identity can not be forced from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, Britishness is something Adam hopes can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the world holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
