"A family located in north London seeks an exceptional and experienced tutor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily skip the wording "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
But, it may be the most significant aspect of this unique job advert, as it aims to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of submissions have already been submitted since the unidentified family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the post has attracted attention in the media, with many asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that notwithstanding first doubt, he found the idea "visionary", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they understood the unusual nature of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
But what did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", the expert replied. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family informed him they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their younger child.
The strategy: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to influence the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the learning at the beginning here is kind of osmotic," said Adam.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will acquire the UK customs they want to cultivate.
He explained the tutor had to be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed him the successful candidate should preferably also have understanding of or enthusiasm in riding, winter sports, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
Additionally though, he explained the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son become a "British gentleman" will bring about success and provide access.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", might the child pick up what is termed cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?
"Yes", replied he. "The family know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Impractical
A number of in the tutoring industry who express similar doubts.
An education leader, chief executive of an educational organization, who supplies personal educators, stated that "the process of becoming bicultural, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the time of seven, and had been educated experiencing and living both cultures. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that an individual can act as a representation of English culture, an individual who can in some way transfer the qualities of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, appears naive and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will will not instantly achieve the result they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to experience numerous of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, cultural identity should not be forced from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the world holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
