"Parents based in the northern part of London seeks an remarkable and skilled tutor to guide their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might readily overlook the term "beginning" as just an expression.
However, it may 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 submitted since the anonymous family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted attention throughout the press, with numerous questioning why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding first skepticism, he found the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he noted they understood the unusual aspect of their request, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already taken hold".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam replied. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid history to happen again with their infant.
The intention: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is somewhat absorbed naturally," stated the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to cultivate.
Adam explained the tutor had to be an individual who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Money No Object
The family explained to him the chosen tutor should preferably also have knowledge of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of passions.
Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and open doors.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
But, in spite of all this instruction in "UK identity", could the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the globally influenced family he lives with in any case?
"Yes", replied Adam. "The family understand this might not succeed, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the private teaching field who share those reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of a tutoring service, who also offer private tutors, stated that "the development of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
He noted that he had moved from the Far East to the UK at the age of seven, and had been raised knowing and living dual heritages. He progressed to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that an individual can serve as a living vessel of UK identity, someone who can somehow transfer the qualities of a British gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, appears naive and unfeasible," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly English tutor from babyhood will not instantly produce the result they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to enjoy many of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, self-identity cannot be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something the CEO hopes can be taught – and marketed.
"In my view the reality that the world holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
