"A household based in north London seeks an exceptional and skilled tutor to guide their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might readily overlook the phrase "beginning" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it may be the most significant part of this distinctive employment listing, as it seeks to find a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have now been received since the unnamed family posted their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the listing has gained attention throughout the press, with numerous questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that despite first scepticism, he considered the plan "visionary", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he noted they appreciated the atypical nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
But, 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 become established".
But what does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", he replied. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed Adam they hoped to prevent the same situation to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," said the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they wish to instil.
The consultant noted the tutor must be somebody who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will result in achievement and create opportunities.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he notes.
Yet, despite all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Absolutely", replied Adam. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as early as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he said.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who share these doubts.
Another CEO, chief executive of a tutoring service, who supplies personal educators, commented that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
The expert noted that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that one individual can act as a living vessel of Britishness, a person who can possibly transplant the attributes of a British gentleman onto a infant child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"Based on my background, having a distinctly English tutor from babyhood will will not automatically produce the result they desire.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience many of the experiences they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity should not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be taught – and sold.
"In my view the reality that the world regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
