"Parents based in North London seeks an exceptional and qualified educator to support their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily miss the wording "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.
But, it could be the most important aspect of this unique job advert, as it attempts to recruit a tutor for a infant.
Hundreds of applications have since been received since the unnamed family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the post has received interest throughout the press, with many wondering why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their search, said that notwithstanding initial scepticism, he considered the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional character of their request, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then taken hold".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the elder child had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family told Adam they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the beginning here is kind of acquired indirectly," said the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to impart.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope 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, effortlessly," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told the expert the successful candidate should preferably also have understanding of or interest in riding, winter sports, the arts and musical activities so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Furthermore though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son develop into a "British gentleman" will result in accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he adds.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", could the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by anyway?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "The family know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as early as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the tutoring industry who express these doubts.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
He wrote that he had relocated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been educated knowing and embodying dual heritages. He progressed to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that a single person can serve as a representation of Britishness, someone who can somehow transplant the qualities of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, strikes me as naive and unfeasible," he commented.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly English tutor from babyhood will not automatically produce the result they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy many of the situations they hope for their son."
He added: "The fact is, cultural identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be taught – and sold.
"I think the reality that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
