"A household residing in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and qualified tutor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might easily miss the wording "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
However, it could be the most important aspect of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to hire a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have now been sent in since the unnamed family posted their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted attention throughout the press, with many asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their search, stated that in spite of early scepticism, he considered the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they recognized the unusual character of their demand, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", he answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the older sibling had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they did not want history to recur with their younger child.
The intention: To hire a UK tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the education at the outset here is kind of absorbed naturally," stated the expert.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will acquire the UK customs they wish to cultivate.
He noted the tutor must be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of passions.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son grow into a "British gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "UK identity", might the child adopt so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Certainly", answered Adam. "The family understand this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as early as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he said.
Impractical
There are some in the education sector who have these reservations.
An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the development of becoming bicultural, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
Peter wrote that he had moved from China to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been raised knowing and practicing two backgrounds. He progressed to learn at Cambridge University.
"The notion that a single person can act as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can possibly transplant the characteristics of a UK sophisticate onto a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a typically British tutor from babyhood will not instantly achieve the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and however I have been lucky enough to experience numerous of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert believes can be taught – and marketed.
"In my view the fact that the world holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
