"Parents located in north London seeks an remarkable and skilled educator to guide their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the term "beginning" as just a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the crucial aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it seeks to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of applications have now been sent in since the unidentified family posted their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained interest across the press, with many wondering why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that despite initial scepticism, he considered the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he said they appreciated the unusual character of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
However, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already taken hold".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", he answered. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He explained the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family informed Adam they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The plan: To hire a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the start here is kind of osmotic," said the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to impart.
The consultant noted the tutor must be an individual who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to the expert the successful candidate should preferably also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a wide range of interests.
Furthermore though, he said the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will bring about achievement and open doors.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
But, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", could the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "The family know this may not work, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Impractical
There are some in the education sector who have those concerns.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, stated that "the development of becoming bicultural, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
He wrote that he had relocated from China to the United Kingdom at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised understanding and practicing both cultures. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that an individual can act as a embodiment of Britishness, a person who can somehow transplant the attributes of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"In my experience, employing a distinctly British tutor from early childhood will not necessarily achieve the goal they want.
"I never had such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy many of the situations they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, cultural identity should not be forced from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, Britishness is something the expert thinks can be instructed – and marketed.
"I think the fact that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
