"A family located in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and experienced instructor to guide their most junior child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might readily skip the term "beginning" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the crucial element of this unusual employment listing, as it seeks to find a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of responses have already been sent in since the anonymous family posted their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has attracted attention throughout the media, with many questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their hunt, explained that despite first skepticism, he considered the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they appreciated the unconventional aspect of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
But, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already become established".
But what does the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", Adam replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family informed the consultant they did not want the same situation to repeat itself with their new baby.
The intention: To bring in a English tutor, who should speak with RP, to influence the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the education at the start here is rather osmotic," stated the CEO.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will acquire the UK customs they aim to impart.
The consultant said the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told him the successful candidate should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, skiing, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
More than that though, he explained the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "English gentleman" will lead to success and provide access.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "English culture", would the child adopt so-called cultural bias from the international family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", said he. "They understand this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he said.
Impractical
Several in the private teaching field who have those doubts.
Another CEO, head and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer personal educators, wrote that "the process of embracing two identities, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had moved from the Far East to the Britain at the period of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and living both cultures. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can function as a embodiment of UK identity, an individual who can somehow impart the attributes of a English gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a typically English tutor from early childhood will not instantly produce the goal they hope for.
"I never had such a figure, and however I have been privileged enough to experience numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert believes can be taught – and sold.
"I believe the reality that the world regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
