"Parents residing in north London is looking for an remarkable and experienced tutor to support their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally miss the wording "beginning" as simple an expression.
Yet, it may be the most important aspect of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to recruit a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have now been received since the unidentified family advertised their request for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted interest across the press, with many questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that in spite of initial scepticism, he viewed the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unusual character of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
However, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already taken hold".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed him they did not want history to happen again with their new baby.
The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the development at the outset here is somewhat absorbed naturally," stated the CEO.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will adopt the UK customs they aim to impart.
The consultant said the tutor had to be somebody who went to "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed him the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son grow into a "British gentleman" will bring about success and open doors.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he notes.
Yet, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "Britishness", could the child adopt what is termed cultural leaning from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Absolutely", said the CEO. "The parents understand this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who have these doubts.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, stated that "the process of becoming bicultural, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised understanding and embodying both cultures. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that a single person can function as a living vessel of UK identity, a person who can in some way impart the qualities of a British gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly UK tutor from early childhood will not instantly create the goal they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy many of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, English culture is something the expert hopes can be educated – and marketed.
"In my view the situation that the world holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
