"A household based in the northern part of London is looking for an extraordinary and skilled tutor to assist their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might naturally skip the wording "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it might be the most important part of this distinctive employment listing, as it aims to find a teacher for a infant.
Many of responses have already been submitted since the unidentified family published their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the listing has attracted interest across the media, with numerous wondering why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their hunt, explained that in spite of early doubt, he found the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he noted they understood the unusual character of their request, and how immature their son is.
But, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already become established".
But what does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had absorbed "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family explained to the consultant they did not want this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," explained the CEO.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the UK customs they wish to impart.
Adam noted the tutor must be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to the expert the chosen tutor should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will bring about success and open doors.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "UK identity", could the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Yes", answered he. "The parents know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the education sector who express these reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
He wrote that he had moved from China to the UK at the period of childhood, and had been educated knowing and practicing both cultures. He went on to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that one individual can act as a embodiment of Britishness, a person who can in some way transfer the attributes of a English gentleman upon a infant child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he wrote.
"In my experience, employing a typically UK tutor from infancy will will not instantly create the result they hope for.
"I did not have such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to experience many of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, personal identity should not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, Britishness is something Adam believes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I believe the situation that the international society views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
