"A family based in North London wants to find an extraordinary and experienced educator to support their most junior child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might easily overlook the term "initial stages" as mere an expression.
However, it could be the most significant part of this unusual position posting, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of responses have now been submitted since the unidentified family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the post has received notice throughout the media, with numerous questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding initial doubt, he considered the plan "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the atypical aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural bias had by then set in".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the firstborn had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The intention: To bring in a British tutor, who should speak with RP, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the development at the outset here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained the CEO.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will pick up the UK customs they want to instil.
He noted the tutor must be somebody who went to "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of hobbies.
More than that though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a selection of lessons 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, helping their son grow into a "British gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he notes.
But, despite all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child absorb what is termed cultural influence from the multicultural family he resides with regardless?
"Certainly", said he. "They know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the education sector who express similar concerns.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides personal educators, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter explained that he had emigrated from China to the United Kingdom at the age of childhood, and had been raised understanding and living two backgrounds. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The notion that a single person can act as a living vessel of UK identity, someone who can in some way transfer the characteristics of a British gentleman onto a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly English tutor from early childhood will will not automatically create the goal they want.
"I did not have such a tutor, and however I have been lucky enough to live several of the situations they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, self-identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, English culture is something the expert hopes can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the situation that the world views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
