"A family residing in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and qualified educator to support their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might easily overlook the term "beginning" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it might be the most important part of this distinctive job advert, as it seeks to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of applications have already been received since the anonymous family posted their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the advert has gained notice in the press, with many questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their search, said that despite first doubt, he considered the idea "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional character of their request, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already become established".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the older sibling had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family told the consultant they did not want the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The intention: To hire a UK tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the education at the outset here is kind of osmotic," explained the CEO.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to impart.
He explained the tutor needed to be somebody who studied at "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator must be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and provide access.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
However, despite all this tutelage in "UK identity", would the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", said Adam. "The parents understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Impractical
There are some in the education sector who have these concerns.
Peter Cui, head and founder of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
Peter noted that he had relocated from China to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised knowing and embodying dual heritages. He went on to learn at Cambridge University.
"The idea that a single person can function as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can possibly impart the qualities of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially English tutor from babyhood will does not instantly produce the outcome they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience many of the situations they aspire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, personal identity can not be dictated from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be educated – and sold.
"I think the reality that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
