"Parents located in north London is looking for an remarkable and experienced instructor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might easily skip the phrase "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.
Yet, it may be the most important aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it attempts to recruit a tutor for a one-year-old.
Many of submissions have since been received since the unnamed family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the advert has received notice in the press, with several asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding first skepticism, he considered the idea "visionary", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional character of their demand, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the older sibling had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they did not want the same situation to recur with their infant.
The plan: To engage a UK tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the learning at the beginning here is rather absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will acquire the British traits they aim to cultivate.
Adam noted the tutor must be someone who went to "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family told the expert the chosen tutor should preferably also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
Additionally though, he said the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son grow into a "British gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he comments.
But, in spite of all this tutelage in "English culture", would the child adopt alleged cultural bias from the international family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", said the CEO. "They understand this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he explained.
Impractical
There are some in the private teaching field who share these doubts.
An education leader, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies private tutors, wrote that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been raised knowing and embodying both cultures. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that a single person can function as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can somehow transplant the characteristics of a British gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, employing a distinctly UK tutor from early childhood will does not automatically achieve the goal they desire.
"I did not have such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, self-identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, English culture is something Adam believes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the global community holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
