"A household based in North London seeks an remarkable and skilled educator to guide their most junior child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might naturally miss the phrase "beginning" as simple an expression.
Yet, it could be the most significant part of this unique job advert, as it aims to recruit a tutor for a infant.
Many of submissions have since been received since the anonymous family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the listing has gained notice in the press, with many questioning why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their search, stated that in spite of initial scepticism, he considered the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they understood the atypical aspect of their request, and how early in age their son is.
However, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He stated the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The plan: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with RP, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's via this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they aim to cultivate.
He noted the tutor must be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed him the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a range of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will lead to success and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he comments.
Yet, notwithstanding all this guidance in "Britishness", could the child adopt alleged cultural leaning from the multicultural family he lives with regardless?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who express these reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been raised understanding and embodying both cultures. He continued to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that a single person can function as a embodiment of Britishness, an individual who can in some way transplant the qualities of a British gentleman to a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"Based on my background, having a quintessentially British tutor from babyhood will does not automatically create the goal they desire.
"I never had such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience several of the situations they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be imposed from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, English culture is something Adam thinks can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the world views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
