"A family located in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and skilled instructor to support their youngest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the wording "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the most significant aspect of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to recruit a teacher for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have since been received since the anonymous family posted their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the post has received attention throughout the media, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, head and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their search, stated that in spite of initial scepticism, he viewed the plan "visionary", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the unusual character of their request, and how immature their son is.
However, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already taken hold".
But what does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", the expert responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the firstborn had absorbed "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed the consultant they wished to avoid history to recur with their younger child.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the development at the beginning here is somewhat osmotic," explained Adam.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will adopt the UK customs they aim to cultivate.
The consultant explained the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the selected educator should preferably also have understanding of or interest in riding, skiing, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and create opportunities.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this instruction in "Britishness", would the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the international family he is raised by anyway?
"Yes", replied the CEO. "The parents know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who share those reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies personal educators, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter explained that he had relocated from China to the UK at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated knowing and living both cultures. He continued to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that one individual can function as a representation of English culture, an individual who can possibly transfer the qualities of a British gentleman onto a infant child, appears naive and impractical," he wrote.
"Based on my background, having a distinctly UK tutor from babyhood will does not automatically achieve the result they hope for.
"I never had such a figure, and however I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the experiences they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, cultural identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, English culture is something the CEO believes can be instructed – and marketed.
"In my view the situation that the international society regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
