"A family based in north London wants to find an remarkable and experienced educator to assist their most junior child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might easily miss the phrase "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.
Yet, it may be the crucial part of this unique job advert, as it seeks to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Many of submissions have since been sent in since the unnamed family posted their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the listing has gained notice throughout the media, with many questioning why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, said that in spite of early skepticism, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam responded. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He stated the elder child had absorbed "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to him they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their infant.
The intention: To engage a UK tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the learning at the start here is somewhat acquired indirectly," explained Adam.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will acquire the UK customs they aim to instil.
The consultant said the tutor had to be an individual who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
Furthermore though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will result in accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
Yet, in spite of all this tutelage in "UK identity", could the child pick up alleged cultural influence from the international family he is raised by regardless?
"Certainly", said he. "The family know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as early as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he explained.
Impractical
There are some in the private teaching field who express those doubts.
An education leader, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert explained that he had emigrated from Asia to the Britain at the time of childhood, and had been educated experiencing and living dual heritages. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can serve as a representation of Britishness, an individual who can in some way transfer the characteristics of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"In my experience, employing a typically British tutor from babyhood will will not automatically create the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they desire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert believes can be instructed – and marketed.
"In my view the fact that the world views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
