"A household residing in North London wants to find an remarkable and experienced educator to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might readily miss the wording "beginning" as simple a turn of phrase.
Yet, it might be the crucial part of this unique position posting, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a infant.
Many of submissions have already been submitted since the unnamed family published their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the advert has attracted notice across the media, with many asking why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that notwithstanding initial scepticism, he considered the plan "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they understood the unusual character of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already set in".
But what does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had absorbed "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family explained to the consultant they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their younger child.
The intention: To bring in a UK tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the outset here is rather acquired indirectly," said the CEO.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they aim to cultivate.
He noted the tutor had to be someone who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will result in achievement and create opportunities.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "English culture", might the child adopt alleged cultural bias from the globally influenced family he lives with in any case?
"Absolutely", said the CEO. "They understand this may not work, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who express those doubts.
Peter Cui, head and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
He explained that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and living dual heritages. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The notion that one individual can act as a living vessel of UK identity, an individual who can in some way impart the characteristics of a British gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, seems to me naive and unrealistic," he commented.
"In my experience, employing a typically British tutor from babyhood will does not automatically achieve the outcome they want.
"I never had such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to experience many of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, self-identity should not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I think the fact that the international society regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
