"A family located in north London seeks an remarkable and skilled educator to support their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might easily overlook the wording "initial stages" as simple a turn of phrase.
But, it may be the most significant part of this unique position posting, as it aims to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have already been received since the unidentified family posted their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained notice in the news, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their hunt, explained that despite early scepticism, he considered the concept "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they understood the unconventional nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He said the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family informed him they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The intention: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the start here is somewhat osmotic," stated the CEO.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.
Adam noted the tutor must be an individual who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator must be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Money No Object
The family told the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a wide range of passions.
Furthermore though, he stated the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about achievement and open doors.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, notwithstanding all this instruction in "English culture", would the child adopt what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Absolutely", answered he. "They know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who have those reservations.
An education leader, head and founder of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the process of embracing two identities, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
Peter noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the time of seven, and had been educated understanding and practicing both cultures. He progressed to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that an individual can serve as a living vessel of UK identity, someone who can somehow transplant the characteristics of a English gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, appears optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will not instantly produce the goal they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live several of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, personal identity should not be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Of course, UK identity is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the fact that the global community holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
