"A household residing in north London wants to find an remarkable and qualified instructor to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might easily miss the term "beginning" as simple an expression.
However, it might be the crucial element of this distinctive job advert, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a infant.
Hundreds of submissions have now been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained interest in the press, with many questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their hunt, stated that in spite of early doubt, he considered the plan "visionary", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they understood the atypical nature of their demand, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already set in".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told him they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their younger child.
The intention: To bring in a UK tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the education at the outset here is rather osmotic," said the CEO.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to instil.
Adam noted the tutor had to be someone who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the selected educator should preferably also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
More than that though, he stated the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son become a "British gentleman" will lead to achievement and provide access.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.
But, in spite of all this instruction in "English culture", might the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Absolutely", said he. "The family realize this might not succeed, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he explained.
Impractical
Several in the tutoring industry who have these reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
He explained that he had relocated from China to the United Kingdom at the time of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that one individual can act as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can in some way transfer the qualities of a UK sophisticate to a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and unrealistic," he wrote.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will does not instantly achieve the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"In my view the reality that the international society views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
