"A household residing in north London seeks an exceptional and skilled educator to support their most junior child on his early path to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally skip the wording "beginning" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it may be the most important element of this unusual job advert, as it attempts to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have already been sent in since the anonymous family posted their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted interest throughout the media, with numerous questioning why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, head and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their quest, said that in spite of early doubt, he considered the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he noted they understood the unconventional character of their request, and how early in age their son is.
But, they stated 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 influence had already set in".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", he responded. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told him they hoped to prevent the same situation to repeat itself with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is rather acquired indirectly," stated Adam.
It's through this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to impart.
Adam said the tutor must be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told him the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to register the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
However, in spite of all this instruction in "English culture", would the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Absolutely", replied he. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who express these reservations.
An education leader, chief executive of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, commented that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
He explained that he had relocated from China to the UK at the period of seven, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying both cultures. He progressed to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can act as a living vessel of Britishness, someone who can possibly impart the attributes of a British gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, appears naive and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a typically British tutor from early childhood will not necessarily produce the goal they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they hope for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, self-identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I believe the situation that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
