"Parents located in the northern part of London wants to find an extraordinary and experienced tutor to guide their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might readily overlook the phrase "initial stages" as simple an expression.
Yet, it could be the crucial part of this unique position posting, as it attempts to find a teacher for a one-year-old.
Numerous of applications have now been received since the unnamed family published their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the post has attracted interest throughout the news, with numerous wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, said that despite first scepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he noted they understood the atypical aspect of their requirement, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert answered. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He explained the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family informed him they did not want the same situation to recur with their younger child.
The intention: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the development at the start here is rather acquired indirectly," stated the CEO.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will adopt the British traits they want to cultivate.
Adam said the tutor must be an individual who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator must be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the successful candidate should preferably also have knowledge of or interest in riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he said the family desired the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will result in achievement and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he notes.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "English culture", might the child absorb so-called cultural influence from the international family he is raised by anyway?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "The family understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he said.
Impractical
Several in the private teaching field who express those concerns.
An education leader, head and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies private tutors, commented that "the development of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had emigrated from China to the UK at the time of seven, and had been raised understanding and embodying both cultures. He went on to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can serve as a living vessel of UK identity, someone who can possibly transplant the attributes of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially English tutor from babyhood will does not necessarily create the outcome they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to enjoy many of the situations they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
