"A household based in north London wants to find an remarkable and experienced tutor to assist their youngest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally overlook the phrase "beginning" as just an expression.
However, it may be the crucial part of this distinctive employment listing, as it aims to recruit a teacher for a one-year-old.
Many of applications have already been sent in since the anonymous family published their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted interest throughout the press, with several questioning why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their hunt, explained that despite first skepticism, he found the plan "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they understood the unconventional aspect of their demand, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam replied. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The plan: To hire a English tutor, who must speak with RP, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," explained the CEO.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will pick up the British traits they wish to cultivate.
Adam explained the tutor must be someone who went to "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son become a "British gentleman" will result in success and provide access.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he comments.
But, despite all this instruction in "Britishness", would the child pick up alleged cultural leaning from the international family he resides with in any case?
"Absolutely", replied Adam. "They know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the private teaching field who share those concerns.
An education leader, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies individual instructors, stated that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
The expert explained that he had emigrated from Asia to the UK at the period of 7 years old, and had been educated understanding and embodying both cultures. He progressed to learn at Cambridge University.
"The notion that one individual can act as a living vessel of English culture, an individual who can possibly transfer the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a 12-month-old child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"In my experience, engaging a distinctly UK tutor from infancy will not instantly create the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience several of the situations they aspire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam hopes can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the world holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
