"A family located in the northern part of London is looking for an extraordinary and qualified instructor to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally miss the wording "beginning" as mere figurative language.
However, it may be the most significant element of this distinctive job advert, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of applications have now been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has received notice across the news, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that notwithstanding early scepticism, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he said they appreciated the atypical nature of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already become established".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", Adam replied. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had absorbed "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family explained to the consultant they did not want this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the learning at the beginning here is kind of osmotic," explained Adam.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to cultivate.
The consultant said the tutor had to be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to him the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "equestrian training 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 success and provide access.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he adds.
However, notwithstanding all this instruction in "English culture", could the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", replied the CEO. "They understand this may not work, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who have similar reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
The expert wrote that he had emigrated from Asia to the Britain at the age of seven, and had been educated knowing and embodying dual heritages. He progressed to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that one individual can act as a embodiment of UK identity, a person who can in some way impart the characteristics of a British gentleman to a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly UK tutor from infancy will not instantly achieve the outcome they want.
"I did not have such a tutor, and however I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He added: "The fact is, self-identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the world views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
