"A family based in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and qualified educator to support their most junior child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might easily miss the term "beginning" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the most important part of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to recruit a mentor for a infant.
Many of applications have now been received since the unidentified family advertised their call for the highly paid tutor, who must be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the advert has received interest across the press, with many wondering why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding first scepticism, he viewed the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he mentioned they understood the atypical aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
However, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already set in".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert responded. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He explained the older sibling had adopted "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told him they did not want history to recur with their infant.
The plan: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the beginning here is rather acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will adopt the UK customs they aim to cultivate.
The consultant explained the tutor needed to be an individual who studied at "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family informed the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Additionally though, he explained the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about achievement and provide access.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, despite all this tutelage in "UK identity", would the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with regardless?
"Yes", replied Adam. "The parents know this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who express those reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
He noted that he had relocated from China to the UK at the period of 7 years old, and had been raised knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a living vessel of UK identity, an individual who can in some way transfer the characteristics of a British gentleman onto a infant child, strikes me as naive and unrealistic," he commented.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially British tutor from babyhood will does not automatically achieve the goal they hope for.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the situations they hope for their son."
He added: "The fact is, cultural identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, English culture is something Adam hopes can be educated – and marketed.
"In my view the situation that the world holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
