"Parents residing in north London seeks an exceptional and skilled educator to assist their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might naturally overlook the phrase "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.
Yet, it may be the crucial part of this unique position posting, as it seeks to recruit a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of responses have now been received since the unidentified family posted their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the listing has received interest across the media, with many questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their search, said that in spite of first scepticism, he found the concept "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional aspect of their demand, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then become established".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", the expert responded. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He said the firstborn had absorbed "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family informed him they did not want this pattern to repeat itself with their infant.
The strategy: To bring in a English tutor, who should speak with RP, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is rather osmotic," stated the expert.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will acquire the English characteristics they wish to impart.
He noted the tutor had to be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of interests.
Additionally though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son develop into a "British gentleman" will result in achievement and open doors.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he notes.
However, despite all this tutelage in "English culture", could the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", said he. "They know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who share these doubts.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, stated that "the development of becoming bicultural, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
He explained that he had relocated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated knowing and living dual heritages. He continued to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that an individual can act as a embodiment of English culture, a person who can possibly transplant the characteristics of a UK sophisticate upon a infant child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a typically UK tutor from early childhood will will not instantly create the outcome they want.
"I did not have such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live many of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, Britishness is something Adam thinks can be taught – and marketed.
"In my view the reality that the world views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
