"Parents based in North London seeks an remarkable and qualified instructor to guide their youngest child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally skip the phrase "beginning" as mere an expression.
However, it could be the most important element of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to hire a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have since been received since the anonymous family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the listing has received notice across the press, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that despite first scepticism, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unusual nature of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
But, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already become established".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert replied. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the elder child had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a British tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to guide the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the learning at the beginning here is kind of acquired indirectly," stated the CEO.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will pick up the English characteristics they aim to instil.
Adam said the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed him the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, creative fields and music so as to shape the child in a wide range of hobbies.
More than that though, he stated the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son develop into a "English gentleman" will lead to success and provide access.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.
But, notwithstanding all this instruction in "UK identity", might the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he resides with in any case?
"Absolutely", replied Adam. "They realize this may not work, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'we should try and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Impractical
Several in the tutoring industry who express those reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of a tutoring service, who supplies personal educators, stated that "the process of embracing two identities, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
He wrote that he had relocated from China to the Britain at the age of seven, and had been brought up experiencing and practicing dual heritages. He progressed to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that one individual can function as a embodiment of English culture, an individual who can possibly transfer the attributes of a English gentleman onto a one-year-old child, appears optimistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from infancy will does not instantly achieve the result they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy many of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He added: "The reality is, self-identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and sold.
"I believe the reality that the global community views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
