"Parents located in the northern part of London is looking for an extraordinary and skilled tutor to assist their youngest child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might easily overlook the term "beginning" as just a turn of phrase.
But, it may be the most significant aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it seeks to recruit a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of responses have now been submitted since the unnamed family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has attracted notice across the news, with numerous asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their hunt, said that in spite of initial doubt, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional character of their demand, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert responded. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family told Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The plan: To hire a UK tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the development at the start here is kind of osmotic," said the expert.
It's via this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will pick up the UK customs they want to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be someone who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he said the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a range of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "English gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he comments.
However, despite all this tutelage in "English culture", would the child adopt alleged cultural influence from the multicultural family he is raised by anyway?
"Absolutely", said Adam. "The family know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it 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 education sector who have those concerns.
An education leader, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides personal educators, commented that "the development of becoming bicultural, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
The expert noted that he had moved from Asia to the United Kingdom at the period of seven, and had been educated knowing and embodying dual heritages. He continued to study at Cambridge University.
"The idea that one individual can serve as a representation of Britishness, a person who can possibly transfer the characteristics of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"In my experience, engaging a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will does not necessarily produce the result they desire.
"I did not have such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, personal identity should not be forced from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, English culture is something the CEO believes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I believe the situation that the international society views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
