"A family based in north London wants to find an exceptional and qualified tutor to assist their most junior child on his early path to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might easily miss the term "beginning" as simple figurative language.
However, it may be the most important aspect of this unusual position posting, as it aims to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.
Many of submissions have since been sent in since the unnamed family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the post has attracted interest throughout the media, with numerous asking why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, stated that despite initial scepticism, he found the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he noted they understood the unusual aspect of their request, and how immature their son is.
However, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already become established".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", the expert replied. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family told him they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To hire a UK tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the education at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.
The consultant explained the tutor must be somebody who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Money No Object
The family told the expert the chosen tutor should preferably also have knowledge of or interest in horse riding, skiing, the arts and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Additionally though, he said the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a range of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son grow into a "English gentleman" will lead to achievement and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", would the child adopt so-called cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?
"Certainly", said he. "The family realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who have those doubts.
Peter Cui, head and founder of Blue Education, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
Peter noted that he had relocated from Asia to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised experiencing and living both cultures. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that an individual can act as a representation of Britishness, someone who can in some way transfer the attributes of a English gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me idealistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"Based on my background, having a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will does not necessarily produce the result they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience many of the situations they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, personal identity should not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, English culture is something the expert thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the situation that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
