"Parents based in the northern part of London is looking for an extraordinary and qualified educator to assist their most junior child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might naturally skip the phrase "beginning" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it could be the crucial aspect of this unusual job advert, as it seeks to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have since been sent in since the unnamed family posted their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the advert has attracted attention in the press, with several questioning why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that in spite of initial doubt, he found the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he noted they understood the unusual aspect of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
However, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", Adam responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He stated the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family told the consultant they wished to avoid this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To hire a English tutor, who must speak with RP, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the development at the start here is kind of acquired indirectly," said the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they wish to impart.
Adam said the tutor needed to be someone who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to him the chosen tutor should preferably also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a diverse set of passions.
Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son become a "English gentleman" will lead to success and create opportunities.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
Yet, in spite of all this instruction in "English culture", would the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the international family he is raised by anyway?
"Absolutely", said he. "They understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who express similar reservations.
An education leader, chief executive of an educational organization, who also offer individual instructors, stated that "the process of becoming bicultural, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
The expert explained that he had relocated from Asia to the UK at the period of 7 years old, and had been raised experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that an individual can act as a representation of Britishness, a person who can possibly impart the qualities of a UK sophisticate onto a one-year-old child, seems to me idealistic and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly English tutor from early childhood will does not instantly produce the result they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, self-identity can not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam believes can be taught – and marketed.
"In my view the situation that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
