"A household located in North London wants to find an remarkable and qualified tutor to assist their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily skip the phrase "beginning" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it could be the most important part of this distinctive job advert, as it seeks to hire a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of applications have now been received since the unnamed family posted their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has received interest in the press, with numerous asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that in spite of initial doubt, he considered the concept "visionary", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he said they understood the unconventional aspect of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam replied. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent history to happen again with their infant.
The strategy: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the start here is kind of acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to instil.
Adam said the tutor had to be somebody who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed the expert the selected educator should preferably also have understanding of or passion in riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of interests.
More than that though, he said the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a range of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will lead to achievement and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
But, despite all this guidance in "English culture", could the child adopt so-called cultural leaning from the international family he resides with in any case?
"Absolutely", said the CEO. "They know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the tutoring industry who share similar reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer personal educators, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter wrote that he had relocated from Asia to the Britain at the period of childhood, and had been raised understanding and living dual heritages. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The concept that a single person can function as a representation of English culture, someone who can possibly transplant the characteristics of a UK sophisticate onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"Based on my background, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will does not necessarily produce the result they want.
"I never had such a figure, and yet I have been privileged enough to enjoy several of the situations they desire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the situation that the international society regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
