"A household based in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and skilled tutor to guide their youngest child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might easily overlook the wording "beginning" as simple an expression.
Yet, it may be the crucial element of this unique job advert, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of responses have already been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their request for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained attention throughout the news, with several wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their search, said that notwithstanding early scepticism, he viewed the idea "visionary", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", the expert answered. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He said the firstborn had absorbed "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to happen again with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a British tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the learning at the start here is somewhat osmotic," said the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they aim to instil.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in equestrian activities, skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a wide range of interests.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he notes.
Yet, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", answered the CEO. "They understand this may not work, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who share those doubts.
An education leader, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who also offer private tutors, commented that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He explained that he had relocated from China to the UK at the period of seven, and had been brought up knowing and living two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that one individual can function as a representation of English culture, a person who can possibly impart the attributes of a British gentleman onto a infant child, seems to me idealistic and impractical," he stated.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly English tutor from early childhood will not instantly produce the result they desire.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they hope for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, personal identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Of course, Britishness is something the expert hopes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the global community holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
