"Parents residing in north London seeks an exceptional and skilled educator to support their youngest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might readily skip the phrase "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.
But, it may be the crucial aspect of this unique employment listing, as it aims to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of submissions have now been submitted since the unidentified family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained interest throughout the news, with numerous asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their search, said that notwithstanding early scepticism, he viewed the plan "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional character of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
But, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already set in".
But what did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", he replied. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the older sibling had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to happen again with their infant.
The intention: To hire a UK tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," said the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the UK customs they want to impart.
The consultant explained the tutor needed to be somebody who attended "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 doing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Money No Object
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, alpine skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to register the child on a variety of courses 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, helping their son grow into a "British gentleman" will lead to success and create opportunities.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
But, in spite of all this instruction in "English culture", would the child adopt what is termed cultural leaning from the international family he lives with in any case?
"Absolutely", answered the CEO. "They understand this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the education sector who have those concerns.
Peter Cui, head and founder of Blue Education, who provides personal educators, stated that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
He wrote that he had emigrated from China to the Britain at the age of childhood, and had been educated experiencing and embodying dual heritages. He continued to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that one individual can function as a living vessel of Britishness, someone who can somehow transplant the attributes of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"In my experience, engaging a typically English tutor from early childhood will will not automatically achieve the result they hope for.
"I never had such a figure, and yet I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, personal identity can not be forced from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, Britishness is something the expert believes can be educated – and sold.
"I think the situation that the global community regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
