"A household based in North London seeks an exceptional and experienced tutor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might naturally skip the term "beginning" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the most important part of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Many of submissions have now been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their request for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the advert has received interest in the media, with several questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their search, stated that despite initial scepticism, he viewed the idea "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical aspect of their demand, and how young their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had by then become established".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert answered. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He said the older sibling had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they did not want the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a UK tutor, who must speak with RP, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the education at the beginning here is kind of absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they want to instil.
Adam explained the tutor needed to be someone who attended "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to influence the child in a diverse set of passions.
Furthermore though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting 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 bring about accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by regardless?
"Certainly", answered the CEO. "The parents know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he said.
Impractical
Several in the private teaching field who share similar reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
He noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been educated understanding and embodying both cultures. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that a single person can act as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can possibly transfer the qualities of a British gentleman onto a infant child, strikes me as optimistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly UK tutor from infancy will will not automatically achieve the goal they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been privileged enough to live many of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the global community views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
