"A household based in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and qualified educator to guide their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally miss the term "beginning" as simple figurative language.
Yet, it could be the most important element of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of submissions have now been received since the unnamed family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has received notice across the media, with numerous wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their search, said that notwithstanding initial scepticism, he found the plan "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he said they recognized the atypical nature of their request, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained 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 bias had already taken hold".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He said the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family explained to the consultant they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their infant.
The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the education at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," stated Adam.
It's via this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to instil.
Adam noted the tutor needed to be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to Adam the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in riding, skiing, the arts and music so as to influence 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 classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son become a "English gentleman" will result in success and open doors.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he adds.
However, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "Britishness", could the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the multicultural family he is raised by anyway?
"Yes", said the CEO. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who express those reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of an educational organization, who also offer private tutors, commented that "the process of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
The expert noted that he had emigrated from Asia to the Britain at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that a single person can serve as a living vessel of UK identity, an individual who can in some way transplant the qualities of a UK sophisticate to a 12-month-old child, seems to me naive and unrealistic," he stated.
"From my perspective, employing a typically English tutor from infancy will not automatically produce the goal they want.
"I never had such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to experience several of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be dictated from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be educated – and sold.
"I believe the reality that the global community views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
