"A family located in North London is looking for an extraordinary and skilled educator to guide their youngest child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the wording "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the most important part of this unusual job advert, as it attempts to recruit a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Many of submissions have now been sent in since the anonymous family published their search for the highly paid tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has attracted notice throughout the press, with many asking why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that notwithstanding first skepticism, he found the concept "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he said they recognized the unconventional aspect of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
But, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already set in".
But what did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", he answered. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told him they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The intention: To hire a UK tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the learning at the outset here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will pick up the English characteristics they aim to impart.
The consultant said the tutor must be someone who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Money No Object
The family informed Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a wide range of interests.
More than that though, he explained the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about achievement and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he comments.
Yet, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "Britishness", could the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the international family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", answered he. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he said.
Impractical
Several in the tutoring industry who share those concerns.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who also offer personal educators, stated that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had emigrated from China to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been brought up knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that one individual can serve as a embodiment of Britishness, a person who can possibly transplant the characteristics of a English gentleman onto a infant child, seems to me naive and impractical," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from babyhood will not instantly create the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to experience several of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, cultural identity should not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, English culture is something the expert believes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the international society views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
