"Parents residing in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and skilled educator to support their youngest child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might easily miss the phrase "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it might be the most significant aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have since been sent in since the anonymous family posted their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the listing has received attention across the news, with many asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their search, said that despite first scepticism, he considered the concept "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the atypical character of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already become established".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert replied. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He explained the firstborn had absorbed "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent history to happen again with their infant.
The intention: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the outset here is somewhat acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.
It's via this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they want to cultivate.
He explained the tutor must be somebody who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told him the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
More than that though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.
However, in spite of all this instruction in "Britishness", might the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the international family he resides with in any case?
"Absolutely", replied Adam. "They understand this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as early as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the tutoring industry who express similar concerns.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who provides personal educators, stated that "the development of embracing two identities, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had emigrated from Asia to the UK at the age of seven, and had been brought up knowing and living two backgrounds. He progressed to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that one individual can serve as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can possibly transfer the attributes of a UK sophisticate onto a 12-month-old child, appears idealistic and impractical," he commented.
"From my perspective, having a typically British tutor from early childhood will does not instantly produce the result they want.
"I never had such a figure, and however I have been lucky enough to enjoy several of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, English culture is something the expert thinks can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I believe the fact that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
