"Parents residing in North London seeks an extraordinary and experienced tutor to assist their youngest child on his initial journey to growing into an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might readily skip the phrase "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.
However, it may be the crucial element of this unusual job advert, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a infant.
Hundreds of applications have already been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted interest in the news, with many questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that in spite of initial skepticism, he viewed the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he noted they understood the unusual aspect of their requirement, and how young their son is.
However, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already set in".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", the expert responded. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they did not want the same situation to recur with their infant.
The intention: To hire a British tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," explained the expert.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to instil.
He noted the tutor must be somebody who studied at "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son develop into a "British gentleman" will bring about success and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he notes.
However, despite all this instruction in "Britishness", would the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the international family he resides with in any case?
"Yes", said the CEO. "They realize this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he said.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who have these doubts.
Peter Cui, chief executive of a tutoring service, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
The expert wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the period of childhood, and had been raised knowing and embodying both cultures. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a embodiment of English culture, a person who can possibly transfer the attributes of a British gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, appears optimistic and impractical," he stated.
"In my experience, employing a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will does not automatically create the outcome they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been lucky enough to live several of the situations they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, self-identity cannot be forced from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, English culture is something the expert believes can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the global community views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
