"A household residing in north London seeks an exceptional and experienced tutor to assist their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might readily skip the wording "initial stages" as just figurative language.
But, it might be the crucial aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it aims to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of submissions have now been submitted since the unidentified family advertised their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has received interest across the media, with numerous asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding early scepticism, he viewed the concept "visionary", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they recognized the unusual nature of their request, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert answered. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family informed the consultant they wished to avoid history to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the learning at the beginning here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said Adam.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will pick up the English characteristics they aim to impart.
The consultant noted the tutor needed to be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the successful candidate should preferably also have knowledge of or interest in equestrian activities, winter sports, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and open doors.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he adds.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "Britishness", would the child pick up alleged cultural leaning from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Certainly", answered Adam. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the private teaching field who share similar concerns.
Another CEO, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies personal educators, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
He explained that he had moved from the Far East to the UK at the period of seven, and had been raised experiencing and living both cultures. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can act as a living vessel of English culture, someone who can somehow transplant the qualities of a UK sophisticate upon a one-year-old child, seems to me idealistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially English tutor from babyhood will not automatically create the result they want.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy several of the situations they hope for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, self-identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, Britishness is something the expert believes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"In my view the fact that the global community regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
