"A family located in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and skilled educator to assist their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might naturally miss the wording "beginning" as mere figurative language.
But, it could be the crucial part of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to recruit a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have since been received since the unidentified family posted their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the listing has attracted interest across the news, with many questioning why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, head and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding first skepticism, he viewed the idea "visionary", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he said they appreciated the unusual nature of their request, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already become established".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", the expert answered. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family told Adam they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The intention: To hire a British tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the development at the start here is somewhat osmotic," explained the CEO.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the UK customs they aim to cultivate.
He noted the tutor had to be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he explained the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will lead to success and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he comments.
But, despite all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child pick up alleged cultural influence from the international family he is raised by regardless?
"Certainly", replied he. "They realize this could fail, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who have similar concerns.
Another CEO, chief executive of a tutoring service, who also offer individual instructors, stated that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
Peter noted that he had relocated from China to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been raised experiencing and living two backgrounds. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can serve as a living vessel of Britishness, someone who can possibly transfer the qualities of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"Based on my background, employing a typically British tutor from babyhood will will not necessarily produce the outcome they hope for.
"I never had such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live many of the situations they hope for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, self-identity can not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, Britishness is something Adam believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I think the situation that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
