"Parents located in North London wants to find an remarkable and qualified instructor to support their youngest child on his early path to growing into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the phrase "beginning" as just a turn of phrase.
But, it may be the crucial element of this distinctive job advert, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of responses have already been sent in since the anonymous family posted their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the advert has gained notice across the media, with many questioning why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, stated that despite initial doubt, he considered the concept "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they recognized the unusual nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already set in".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the firstborn had adopted "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their new baby.
The intention: To hire a UK 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 kind of osmotic," stated the expert.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they wish to impart.
He explained the tutor had to be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Money No Object
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should preferably also have understanding of or interest in riding, winter sports, the arts and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a range of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to success and provide access.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", could the child pick up what is termed cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", answered he. "They know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the private teaching field who express these reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, stated that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter explained that he had emigrated from China to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated knowing and living two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that a single person can act as a embodiment of UK identity, an individual who can somehow transplant the qualities of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and impractical," he commented.
"From my perspective, employing a typically English tutor from infancy will does not necessarily create the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the situations they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, self-identity should not be dictated from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the fact that the global community views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
