"Parents located in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and experienced instructor to assist their smallest child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the wording "beginning" as just an expression.
However, it might be the most significant aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have already been submitted since the anonymous family published their request for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained attention across the press, with many questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their hunt, stated that despite early doubt, he found the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the unusual character of their demand, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert responded. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He explained the firstborn had absorbed "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they did not want this pattern to repeat itself with their younger child.
The plan: To hire a UK tutor, who must speak with RP, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the outset here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained the expert.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they wish to impart.
Adam said the tutor must be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of interests.
Additionally though, he explained the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son grow into a "British gentleman" will lead to achievement and provide access.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he adds.
But, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", would the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", answered the CEO. "They know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the private teaching field who express similar concerns.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer personal educators, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
He noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the Britain at the age of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and embodying both cultures. He continued to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that one individual can serve as a representation of English culture, a person who can in some way impart the attributes of a UK sophisticate onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, engaging a distinctly English tutor from early childhood will will not instantly achieve the result they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to experience numerous of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity can not be dictated from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be educated – and sold.
"In my view the reality that the international society regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
