"A family based in North London is looking for an extraordinary and skilled educator to support their youngest child on his early path to growing into an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might readily miss the phrase "beginning" as simple a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the crucial part of this unique employment listing, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of responses have already been submitted since the anonymous family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the post has gained notice in the press, with many wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, said that notwithstanding early scepticism, he viewed the idea "visionary", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they appreciated the atypical aspect of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already set in".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", he replied. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the firstborn had absorbed "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their infant.
The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the education at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," stated Adam.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will pick up the British traits they want to instil.
He noted the tutor had to be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of passions.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son grow into a "British gentleman" will result in accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he adds.
However, notwithstanding all this instruction in "English culture", could the child absorb so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Certainly", answered the CEO. "The family know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try 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 tutoring industry who express those concerns.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had emigrated from China to the Britain at the time of seven, and had been educated knowing and embodying both cultures. He went on to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that an individual can function as a living vessel of Britishness, someone who can possibly transplant the qualities of a UK sophisticate upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and unfeasible," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly English tutor from babyhood will does not instantly create the result they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to live many of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, UK identity is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and sold.
"In my view the fact that the world views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
