"A family located in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and experienced instructor to guide their youngest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might readily miss the phrase "beginning" as simple an expression.
But, it might be the most significant aspect of this unique employment listing, as it attempts to recruit a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have now been received since the anonymous family advertised their request for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the listing has received notice in the press, with many wondering why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that notwithstanding early scepticism, he found the plan "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he noted they understood the unconventional aspect of their request, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already set in".
But what does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", the expert responded. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He said the older sibling had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family explained to the consultant they did not want history to recur with their infant.
The intention: To hire a British tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is somewhat acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the English characteristics they wish to impart.
Adam said the tutor must be someone who attended "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to him the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will bring about success and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child adopt so-called cultural leaning from the international family he lives with in any case?
"Yes", answered he. "The parents know this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the tutoring industry who share similar doubts.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies personal educators, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter noted that he had emigrated from Asia to the UK at the period of childhood, and had been brought up understanding and living dual heritages. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that one individual can act as a living vessel of UK identity, a person who can in some way transplant the qualities of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, appears idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a typically British tutor from early childhood will does not necessarily achieve the goal they want.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and however I have been lucky enough to enjoy several of the situations they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, English culture is something the expert thinks can be taught – and sold.
"In my view the situation that the global community holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
