"A family located in North London wants to find an exceptional and qualified educator to support their most junior child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally miss the term "beginning" as mere figurative language.
However, it may be the most important aspect of this unusual position posting, as it aims to recruit a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of submissions have since been sent in since the unidentified family published their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the listing has attracted interest in the media, with many wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their search, explained that in spite of first skepticism, he viewed the idea "visionary", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they appreciated the unusual character of their request, and how early in age their son is.
But, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already taken hold".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam answered. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He said the firstborn had picked up "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family informed the consultant they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with RP, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the start here is somewhat osmotic," explained the CEO.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will acquire the English characteristics they want to cultivate.
Adam explained the tutor must be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator must be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or passion in riding, skiing, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of interests.
Additionally though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of courses 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 minds, assisting their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about achievement and provide access.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this instruction in "UK identity", could the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he resides with anyway?
"Certainly", replied Adam. "They know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as early as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the education sector who have those doubts.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies personal educators, stated that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He explained that he had relocated from China to the United Kingdom at the time of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and living both cultures. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can function as a representation of English culture, someone who can possibly impart the attributes of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"In my experience, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will does not instantly achieve the outcome they desire.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to enjoy many of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, cultural identity can not be dictated from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something the CEO believes can be instructed – and sold.
"I believe the situation that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
