"A family located in North London is looking for an remarkable and experienced educator to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might easily overlook the wording "beginning" as simple a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the crucial element of this distinctive employment listing, as it seeks to hire a tutor for a infant.
Hundreds of submissions have now been sent in since the unidentified family posted their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the listing has gained attention across the news, with numerous asking why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, stated that in spite of initial doubt, he found the plan "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they appreciated the atypical nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
But what did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert answered. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He said the firstborn had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they did not want this pattern to happen again with their younger child.
The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the education at the outset here is somewhat acquired indirectly," explained the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they aim to instil.
He said the tutor had to be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a wide range of interests.
More than that though, he said the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a range of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and provide access.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he notes.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", would the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the international family he is raised by anyway?
"Yes", replied Adam. "The family know this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he said.
Impractical
Several in the tutoring industry who express these reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer personal educators, stated that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
The expert noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and embodying both cultures. He went on to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that a single person can function as a embodiment of UK identity, an individual who can somehow impart the attributes of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, seems to me idealistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"Based on my background, employing a quintessentially British tutor from babyhood will not instantly produce the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and however I have been lucky enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Of course, Britishness is something the expert believes can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the global community views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
