"Parents residing in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and experienced educator to guide their youngest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might easily skip the wording "beginning" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it may be the most significant aspect of this unique employment listing, as it seeks to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of applications have since been received since the anonymous family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has attracted notice across the press, with several asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their hunt, stated that notwithstanding initial skepticism, he viewed the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he said they understood the unconventional nature of their request, and how young their son is.
However, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He said the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their younger child.
The intention: To hire a British tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will acquire the British traits they wish to instil.
The consultant noted the tutor needed to be someone who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told the expert the selected educator should preferably also have understanding of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a wide range of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and create opportunities.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he comments.
However, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", would the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he is raised by anyway?
"Certainly", answered he. "The parents realize this might not succeed, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the private teaching field who share similar concerns.
An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
Peter wrote that he had emigrated from China to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been raised experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He progressed to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that one individual can serve as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can in some way impart the qualities of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"Based on my background, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from infancy will will not instantly produce the goal they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to live many of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, personal identity can not be imposed from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"I think the fact that the global community regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
