"A household located in north London is looking for an exceptional and qualified educator to assist their most junior child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily overlook the term "beginning" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the most important aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it aims to recruit a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of applications have now been submitted since the anonymous family published their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the post has received interest in the news, with numerous asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that notwithstanding early scepticism, he found the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he mentioned they recognized the unusual nature of their request, and how early in age their son is.
But, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already set in".
But what does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", he replied. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He explained the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they did not want history to repeat itself with their new baby.
The intention: To hire a British tutor, who should speak with RP, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is kind of absorbed naturally," stated Adam.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will pick up the UK customs they want to cultivate.
He said the tutor had to be an individual who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family told him the successful candidate should preferably also have understanding of or interest in riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "British gentleman" will result in achievement and provide access.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he comments.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "UK identity", might the child pick up what is termed cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with regardless?
"Absolutely", said the CEO. "They know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he explained.
Impractical
Several in the tutoring industry who have similar reservations.
An education leader, chief executive of Blue Education, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter wrote that he had moved from the Far East to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been brought up knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that a single person can act as a representation of Britishness, a person who can in some way transfer the characteristics of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me naive and impractical," he stated.
"In my experience, employing a typically English tutor from early childhood will does not automatically produce the outcome they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to enjoy several of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity should not be forced from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be taught – and commercialized.
"I believe the situation that the world regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
