"A household residing in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and experienced tutor to assist their smallest child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might naturally miss the phrase "beginning" as mere figurative language.
But, it might be the most important aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have now been received since the anonymous family advertised their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the post has attracted interest across the media, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their search, stated that despite first skepticism, he found the concept "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they appreciated the atypical aspect of their demand, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already taken hold".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He said the older sibling had absorbed "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family told him they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The plan: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," said the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the British traits they aim to cultivate.
He noted the tutor needed to be an individual who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to success and provide access.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
But, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", could the child adopt alleged cultural leaning from the international family he lives with regardless?
"Certainly", said he. "The family know this may not work, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who express similar concerns.
Peter Cui, head and founder of an educational organization, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
The expert wrote that he had emigrated from China to the UK at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that a single person can serve as a embodiment of UK identity, a person who can possibly impart the qualities of a English gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"Based on my background, having a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will will not automatically create the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and however I have been privileged enough to live several of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, self-identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Of course, UK identity is something the CEO hopes can be taught – and sold.
"In my view the situation that the world holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
