"A household residing in North London wants to find an remarkable and qualified educator to support their smallest child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might naturally skip the term "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.
However, it might be the crucial element of this distinctive position posting, as it attempts to recruit a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of applications have now been received since the unidentified family published their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has gained interest throughout the media, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that despite initial scepticism, he considered the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional character of their demand, and how immature their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already set in".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", Adam answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He said the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family told him they did not want history to happen again with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who must speak with RP, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the education at the beginning here is somewhat acquired indirectly," explained Adam.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the British traits they wish to impart.
He said the tutor must be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator must be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Additionally though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son become a "UK sophisticate" will bring about accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he notes.
However, in spite of all this instruction in "UK identity", might the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he is raised by anyway?
"Yes", said the CEO. "The family realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who express these doubts.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who also offer private tutors, stated that "the development of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
He wrote that he had relocated from the Far East to the Britain at the age of childhood, and had been brought up knowing and practicing both cultures. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that one individual can serve as a embodiment of Britishness, someone who can somehow impart the characteristics of a English gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, appears naive and unrealistic," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a typically UK tutor from infancy will does not automatically achieve the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the expert believes can be educated – and sold.
"In my view the reality that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
