"A family residing in the northern part of London is looking for an extraordinary and skilled tutor to assist their smallest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might naturally miss the phrase "beginning" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it might be the most significant element of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to recruit a teacher for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have now been received since the unnamed family advertised their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the advert has gained notice in the news, with several questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that despite early skepticism, he found the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional nature of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
But, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already set in".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they did not want this pattern to happen again with their new baby.
The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the development at the beginning here is kind of acquired indirectly," explained the expert.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they aim to instil.
He noted the tutor must be somebody who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to him the successful candidate should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in riding, alpine skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to shape the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he explained the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
But, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", could the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", said the CEO. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he explained.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who express these doubts.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, commented that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
Peter wrote that he had relocated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of seven, and had been educated understanding and embodying both cultures. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that an individual can function as a living vessel of UK identity, someone who can possibly transplant the attributes of a English gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, employing a typically UK tutor from infancy will does not instantly create the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to experience several of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something the expert hopes can be instructed – and sold.
"I believe the reality that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
