"Parents located in north London seeks an extraordinary and qualified educator to support their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might readily skip the phrase "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the most significant part of this unusual employment listing, as it seeks to find a mentor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of submissions have since been received since the unidentified family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has received notice throughout the press, with several wondering why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that despite first scepticism, he found the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he noted they appreciated the unconventional aspect of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
But, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", he responded. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the older sibling had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the education at the outset here is somewhat absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the UK customs they wish to cultivate.
He noted the tutor had to be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
But, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", might the child adopt what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he lives with in any case?
"Absolutely", answered the CEO. "They know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the education sector who have similar doubts.
Another CEO, chief executive of a tutoring service, who supplies individual instructors, stated that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert explained that he had relocated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of childhood, and had been educated knowing and living both cultures. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can act as a representation of English culture, an individual who can possibly transfer the attributes of a UK sophisticate onto a 12-month-old child, appears naive and unfeasible," he stated.
"In my experience, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will not necessarily create the outcome they hope for.
"I never had such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity can not be dictated from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the world holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
