"Parents located in north London is looking for an remarkable and skilled instructor to guide their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might easily skip the phrase "beginning" as simple a turn of phrase.
Yet, it might be the most important part of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Many of submissions have now been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the advert has received notice throughout the news, with many wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their search, stated that in spite of early skepticism, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional aspect of their request, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already become established".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", the expert replied. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent the same situation to repeat itself with their younger child.
The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who should speak with RP, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the development at the start here is rather osmotic," said the CEO.
It's via this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to instil.
He noted the tutor had to be somebody who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds 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 don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in equestrian activities, skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about success and create opportunities.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he comments.
Yet, notwithstanding all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child pick up what is termed cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he resides with in any case?
"Absolutely", said the CEO. "The family understand this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as early as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Impractical
There are some in the education sector who have these concerns.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, commented that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter noted that he had moved from China to the UK at the time of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying dual heritages. He continued to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The idea that a single person can act as a living vessel of English culture, an individual who can possibly impart the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a 12-month-old child, appears optimistic and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a typically UK tutor from babyhood will not necessarily produce the result they desire.
"I never had such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to enjoy many of the experiences they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, self-identity should not be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, English culture is something the expert believes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I believe the situation that the global community views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
