"A family based in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and experienced instructor to assist their youngest child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might easily miss the term "initial stages" as just figurative language.
Yet, it may be the most significant part of this unique employment listing, as it aims to recruit a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have already been received since the unidentified family advertised their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted attention throughout the media, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that despite early skepticism, he found the concept "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he said they appreciated the unconventional aspect of their request, and how early in age their son is.
However, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", the expert responded. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family explained to him they wished to avoid this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who must speak with RP, to guide the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the education at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," stated the CEO.
It's through this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the British traits they want to impart.
The consultant explained the tutor needed to be an individual who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the selected educator should preferably also have understanding of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Additionally though, he explained the family desired the tutor to register the child on a range of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will result in success and provide access.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he comments.
But, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "Britishness", would the child pick up alleged cultural leaning from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Absolutely", said Adam. "The parents realize this may not work, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the private teaching field who have those concerns.
Another CEO, head and founder of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, stated that "the development of becoming bicultural, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
Peter explained that he had relocated from the Far East to the Britain at the age of childhood, and had been brought up understanding and embodying dual heritages. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that an individual can serve as a representation of Britishness, a person who can possibly impart the attributes of a British gentleman onto a infant child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"Based on my background, engaging a quintessentially British tutor from babyhood will does not instantly create the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to live many of the situations they hope for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, self-identity can not be dictated from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Of course, Britishness is something the expert hopes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I think the situation that the global community views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
