"A household based in north London seeks an remarkable and experienced tutor to guide their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally overlook the term "beginning" as just an expression.
However, it may be the most significant part of this unique job advert, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a infant.
Many of applications have already been received since the unidentified family published their call for the highly paid tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted interest in the news, with several asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their quest, explained that notwithstanding initial doubt, he found the concept "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he said they appreciated the atypical nature of their request, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert answered. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He said the firstborn had adopted "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family told him they did not want this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the beginning here is kind of acquired indirectly," explained Adam.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will acquire the UK customs they aim to cultivate.
Adam noted the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told him the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, winter sports, the arts and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to register the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he notes.
However, in spite of all this instruction in "UK identity", could the child adopt what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he lives with regardless?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "They know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the private teaching field who share similar concerns.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
He noted that he had relocated from China to the United Kingdom at the age of childhood, and had been educated knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can function as a representation of English culture, someone who can somehow transfer the attributes of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, seems to me idealistic and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, employing a distinctly UK tutor from infancy will not automatically produce the result they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, English culture is something the expert believes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the world regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
