"Parents residing in north London wants to find an extraordinary and skilled instructor to guide their smallest child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might readily overlook the wording "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.
However, it may be the crucial part of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to find a mentor for a one-year-old.
Many of submissions have already been submitted since the anonymous family published their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted interest throughout the press, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding first scepticism, he considered the concept "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional character of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had by then become established".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", Adam responded. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family informed the consultant they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To engage a UK tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to influence the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the development at the beginning here is somewhat osmotic," said the expert.
It's via this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will pick up the British traits they want to impart.
He said the tutor needed to be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
More than that though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son become a "British gentleman" will bring about achievement and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
However, despite all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Certainly", answered the CEO. "They realize this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he explained.
Impractical
A number of in the tutoring industry who have these doubts.
Peter Cui, head and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer personal educators, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
Peter wrote that he had moved from the Far East to the UK at the time of seven, and had been brought up knowing and living dual heritages. He progressed to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that a single person can act as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can somehow transfer the qualities of a UK sophisticate onto a infant child, appears optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will will not instantly achieve the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and however I have been lucky enough to enjoy many of the situations they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity can not be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I believe the fact that the international society holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
