"Parents located in north London is looking for an extraordinary and skilled instructor to support their smallest child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might readily skip the wording "beginning" as simple an expression.
Yet, it could be the most important aspect of this unique employment listing, as it aims to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have already been received since the unidentified family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the advert has received attention throughout the press, with numerous wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that despite initial scepticism, he found the plan "visionary", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional aspect of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam replied. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the elder child had adopted "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family told Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their infant.
The intention: To engage a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the education at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," said the CEO.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will pick up the British traits they aim to instil.
He said the tutor must be an individual who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the successful candidate should preferably also have understanding of or interest in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a diverse set of passions.
Additionally though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a range of classes 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 view, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will result in achievement and open doors.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he adds.
However, notwithstanding all this instruction in "UK identity", would the child adopt alleged cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", replied he. "They realize this may not work, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who have those concerns.
Peter Cui, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, wrote that "the process of becoming bicultural, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
The expert noted that he had moved from Asia to the Britain at the age of seven, and had been educated experiencing and practicing both cultures. He went on to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a embodiment of UK identity, a person who can somehow transfer the characteristics of a English gentleman to a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he stated.
"Based on my background, having a quintessentially UK tutor from early childhood will will not automatically create the goal they desire.
"I did not have such a tutor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy many of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, personal identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, Britishness is something the CEO hopes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I think the fact that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
