"A household located in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and qualified educator to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally overlook the wording "beginning" as mere an expression.
However, it may be the most significant element of this unusual position posting, as it aims to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.
Many of submissions have already been submitted since the anonymous family advertised their request for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has received attention across the press, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their hunt, stated that notwithstanding early doubt, he found the concept "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unusual nature of their request, and how immature their son is.
However, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then become established".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert replied. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family informed the consultant they did not want this pattern to repeat itself with their younger child.
The plan: To bring in a UK tutor, who should speak with RP, to guide the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," stated Adam.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to impart.
Adam noted the tutor had to be someone who studied at "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Money No Object
The family informed him the successful candidate should preferably also have understanding of or enthusiasm in riding, skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a range of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "English gentleman" will lead to success and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
But, notwithstanding all this guidance in "Britishness", might the child pick up alleged cultural leaning from the international family he resides with regardless?
"Certainly", answered the CEO. "The family know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who share these reservations.
An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, commented that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
He noted that he had emigrated from Asia to the UK at the age of seven, and had been brought up knowing and practicing both cultures. He progressed to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can serve as a representation of English culture, a person who can possibly transplant the qualities of a English gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as optimistic and impractical," he stated.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially UK tutor from early childhood will will not automatically create the result they desire.
"I never had such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, English culture is something the CEO believes can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the situation that the global community regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
