"A family located in the northern part of London wants to find an exceptional and skilled instructor to support their most junior child on his early path to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might easily miss the term "beginning" as just an expression.
Yet, it may be the crucial element of this unique position posting, as it seeks to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have already been sent in since the unnamed family posted their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the advert has received notice throughout the media, with numerous wondering why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their hunt, explained that in spite of initial doubt, he found the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he noted they appreciated the unconventional nature of their demand, and how young their son is.
However, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam answered. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He stated the older sibling had adopted "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family explained to the consultant they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their younger child.
The intention: To engage a English tutor, who should speak with RP, to guide the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the outset here is rather absorbed naturally," said the CEO.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will acquire the British traits they want to impart.
Adam said the tutor must be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to Adam the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of interests.
Furthermore though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a range of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son become a "English gentleman" will lead to success and provide access.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "English culture", might the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the globally influenced family he is raised by in any case?
"Yes", replied Adam. "The parents understand this may not work, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who express these doubts.
Another CEO, chief executive of an educational organization, who also offer individual instructors, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
He noted that he had emigrated from China to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and embodying dual heritages. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that one individual can serve as a embodiment of English culture, an individual who can possibly impart the qualities of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a typically UK tutor from infancy will not automatically achieve the outcome they desire.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and however I have been privileged enough to experience numerous of the situations they hope for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Of course, UK identity is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
