"A family residing in the northern part of London wants to find an extraordinary and skilled educator to assist their youngest child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might readily miss the wording "beginning" as just an expression.
But, it may be the most important element of this unusual position posting, as it aims to hire a tutor for a infant.
Many of submissions have since been sent in since the unidentified family published their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained interest across the news, with several wondering why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding initial skepticism, he found the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he said they appreciated the unconventional aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had by then set in".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family explained to the consultant they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their new baby.
The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who should speak with RP, to shape the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the beginning here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said the CEO.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will acquire the English characteristics they want to instil.
The consultant said the tutor needed to be somebody who studied at "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Money No Object
The family informed him the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of interests.
Additionally though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son grow into a "British gentleman" will result in achievement and open doors.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
But, despite all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", answered Adam. "The family understand this could fail, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he said.
Impractical
There are some in the private teaching field who share these concerns.
An education leader, head and founder of a tutoring service, who provides personal educators, wrote that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had moved from China to the Britain at the time of childhood, and had been brought up understanding and practicing dual heritages. He continued to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that one individual can serve as a living vessel of Britishness, someone who can possibly impart the attributes of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from early childhood will will not instantly produce the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience several of the experiences they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, cultural identity can not be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I think the reality that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
