"A household based in North London is looking for an remarkable and qualified instructor to support their smallest child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might readily skip the phrase "initial stages" as simple an expression.
Yet, it may be the most important part of this unusual job advert, as it aims to recruit a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of submissions have since been submitted since the anonymous family posted their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has received interest throughout the news, with several asking why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their search, said that in spite of initial doubt, he found the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he said they appreciated the unusual nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", he replied. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the older sibling had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed Adam they did not want this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the learning at the start here is somewhat acquired indirectly," said Adam.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will pick up the UK customs they want to instil.
He explained the tutor must be somebody who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, creative fields and music so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
More than that though, he stated the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son develop into a "English gentleman" will lead to success and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he comments.
But, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child adopt alleged cultural leaning from the international family he lives with regardless?
"Yes", answered Adam. "The parents understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who express those reservations.
An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, commented that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and practicing two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that one individual can serve as a representation of English culture, a person who can somehow transplant the attributes of a UK sophisticate upon a one-year-old child, appears naive and impractical," he commented.
"Based on my background, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will does not instantly achieve the outcome they desire.
"I never had such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to experience several of the experiences they hope for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity can not be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the global community regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
