"Parents located in North London seeks an exceptional and experienced tutor to guide their youngest child on his initial journey to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might readily miss the phrase "beginning" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it might be the crucial part of this unique position posting, as it aims to recruit a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of applications have now been received since the unidentified family published their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained interest in the media, with numerous questioning why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, head and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their search, stated that in spite of early skepticism, he found the idea "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he said they appreciated the unconventional nature of their demand, and how young their son is.
However, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the older sibling had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family informed the consultant they did not want the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the beginning here is somewhat acquired indirectly," said the expert.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the English characteristics they wish to instil.
Adam noted the tutor needed to be an individual who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed him the selected educator should preferably also have knowledge of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he notes.
Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", could the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the globally influenced family he resides with anyway?
"Absolutely", replied he. "They understand this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the education sector who have similar reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, stated that "the process of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
Peter wrote that he had relocated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying dual heritages. He progressed to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that one individual can function as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can possibly transplant the attributes of a British gentleman onto a infant child, appears naive and impractical," he commented.
"Based on my background, having a typically English tutor from infancy will will not instantly achieve the result they want.
"I did not have such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, self-identity should not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, UK identity is something Adam believes can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the reality that the world views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
