"A household residing in the northern part of London wants to find an exceptional and experienced educator to support their smallest child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily overlook the wording "beginning" as simple a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the most significant element of this distinctive employment listing, as it aims to recruit a teacher for a one-year-old.
Numerous of applications have already been sent in since the unnamed family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has received interest in the news, with many asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that in spite of initial skepticism, he considered the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he said they recognized the atypical aspect of their demand, and how young their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their infant.
The plan: To hire a British tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the education at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," explained Adam.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will adopt the UK customs they aim to instil.
He noted the tutor must be someone who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a range of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will result in accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child pick up what is termed cultural bias from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Certainly", replied Adam. "The family know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the attitude 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 explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the education sector who share these reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, commented that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
The expert noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the time of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and practicing both cultures. He went on to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that an individual can function as a living vessel of Britishness, a person who can somehow transplant the characteristics of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"From my perspective, engaging a distinctly English tutor from babyhood will will not instantly produce the result they want.
"I never had such a tutor, and however I have been lucky enough to enjoy numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, personal identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, UK identity is something Adam believes can be instructed – and sold.
"I believe the situation that the world regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
