"A household residing in north London wants to find an extraordinary and skilled tutor to support their youngest child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily skip the phrase "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.
But, it could be the most important element of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to find a teacher for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have now been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has gained interest throughout the press, with numerous asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their hunt, stated that despite first skepticism, he considered the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional character of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already set in".
But what does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", Adam responded. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He said the older sibling had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family told Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to repeat itself with their infant.
The intention: To hire a English tutor, who must speak with RP, to shape the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," said Adam.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to cultivate.
Adam noted the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told him the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Additionally though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will result in success and open doors.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he adds.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", would the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", said the CEO. "The parents know this may not work, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who have similar reservations.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, commented that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
He explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that a single person can function as a living vessel of UK identity, an individual who can somehow transfer the characteristics of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly UK tutor from babyhood will will not necessarily produce the result they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and however I have been lucky enough to enjoy numerous of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, English culture is something Adam hopes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the world holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
