"A family located in the northern part of London wants to find an extraordinary and experienced educator to support their most junior child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might readily skip the phrase "initial stages" as mere an expression.
But, it could be the most significant aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it attempts to recruit a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Many of responses have now been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has attracted notice throughout the media, with many wondering why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, said that in spite of early scepticism, he considered the idea "visionary", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he mentioned they understood the atypical aspect of their request, and how early in age their son is.
But, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already set in".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family told him they did not want history to happen again with their younger child.
The intention: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the start here is rather osmotic," said the CEO.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will pick up the UK customs they want to impart.
The consultant said 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 don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the successful candidate should preferably also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, skiing, the arts and music so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he stated the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and open doors.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child absorb so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "The family know this could fail, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who share those concerns.
Peter Cui, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, commented that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter wrote that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been brought up understanding and embodying dual heritages. He progressed to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that a single person can act as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can in some way impart the characteristics of a English gentleman upon a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, engaging a typically UK tutor from babyhood will will not instantly achieve the result they want.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to experience many of the situations they hope for their son."
He added: "The truth is, cultural identity cannot be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be educated – and sold.
"I believe the fact that the international society regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
