"Parents located in north London is looking for an extraordinary and experienced educator to support their smallest child on his early path to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might readily overlook the term "beginning" as mere figurative language.
However, it might be the most important element of this unusual job advert, as it attempts to recruit a teacher for a one-year-old.
Many of submissions have now been received since the anonymous family posted their request for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted attention throughout the press, with several asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that despite early scepticism, he found the idea "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the unusual aspect of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then taken hold".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam responded. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the elder child had absorbed "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their infant.
The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the start here is somewhat osmotic," stated the CEO.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will acquire the UK customs they want to instil.
The consultant explained the tutor had to be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or interest in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Additionally though, he explained the family desired the tutor to register the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will result in success and provide access.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he adds.
But, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", could the child absorb what is termed cultural bias from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Absolutely", answered Adam. "The family know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who express these concerns.
Peter Cui, head and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies individual instructors, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
The expert wrote that he had moved from the Far East to the Britain at the period of 7 years old, and had been raised experiencing and living both cultures. He progressed to study at Cambridge University.
"The idea that a single person can act as a embodiment of Britishness, a person who can possibly transplant the qualities of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me idealistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from infancy will does not necessarily achieve the goal they desire.
"I never had such a figure, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience many of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, personal identity should not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be instructed – and marketed.
"In my view the situation that the global community holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
