"A family located in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and qualified educator to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might easily overlook the phrase "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the most significant part of this unique job advert, as it attempts to find a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of applications have now been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has received notice throughout the media, with several wondering why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, explained that in spite of initial scepticism, he viewed the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he mentioned they understood the atypical nature of their request, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already become established".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", the expert responded. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they did not want the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To bring in a English tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the start here is somewhat osmotic," stated the CEO.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will acquire the UK customs they want to impart.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be someone who attended "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told him the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will lead to success and open doors.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.
But, despite all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child adopt alleged cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", said Adam. "They know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the private teaching field who share similar reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of a tutoring service, who provides personal educators, commented that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
The expert wrote that he had relocated from the Far East to the Britain at the age of seven, and had been raised understanding and practicing dual heritages. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The idea that an individual can function as a representation of English culture, an individual who can possibly transplant the attributes of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, engaging a typically English tutor from infancy will will not automatically achieve the result they want.
"I did not have such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they hope for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity cannot be forced from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, Britishness is something the CEO believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"In my view the fact that the world views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
