"A family located in north London is looking for an remarkable and skilled instructor to guide their youngest child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might readily miss the phrase "beginning" as simple figurative language.
But, it could be the most important element of this unique position posting, as it seeks to find a teacher for a infant.
Many of responses have now been sent in since the unidentified family posted their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted notice in the news, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that notwithstanding early doubt, he considered the plan "visionary", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional character of their demand, and how young their son is.
However, they clarified 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 stage "cultural conditioning had already set in".
But what did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert responded. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family told him they hoped to prevent history to recur with their younger child.
The plan: To hire a UK tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the education at the outset here is kind of osmotic," stated Adam.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they wish to impart.
The consultant said the tutor had to be somebody who studied at "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should preferably also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, the arts and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will lead to achievement and provide access.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he notes.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "English culture", could the child absorb what is termed cultural influence from the globally influenced family he resides with regardless?
"Certainly", said he. "The parents realize this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he stated.
Impractical
A number of in the tutoring industry who have those reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the process of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
Peter explained that he had moved from China to the Britain at the age of seven, and had been raised understanding and practicing dual heritages. He progressed to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that one individual can act as a representation of Britishness, a person who can somehow transplant the qualities of a English gentleman onto a one-year-old child, seems to me idealistic and impractical," he stated.
"From my perspective, having a typically British tutor from infancy will not automatically achieve the result they hope for.
"I never had such a figure, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience many of the situations they desire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, self-identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert believes can be instructed – and sold.
"I think the reality that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
