"A family based in the northern part of London wants to find an extraordinary and skilled tutor to guide their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might easily miss the term "beginning" as just figurative language.
But, it might be the most important aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to recruit a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have already been sent in since the anonymous family published their request for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the listing has gained attention in the news, with numerous questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that despite initial doubt, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional aspect of their demand, and how young their son is.
However, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then become established".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert answered. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed him they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The plan: To bring in a UK tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will pick up the UK customs they want to instil.
Adam explained the tutor needed to be someone who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to Adam the chosen tutor should preferably also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in riding, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a diverse set of passions.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will result in success and provide access.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he notes.
Yet, notwithstanding all this instruction in "UK identity", could the child absorb what is termed cultural bias from the international family he resides with in any case?
"Certainly", replied Adam. "They know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who express similar concerns.
An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
Peter noted that he had relocated from Asia to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been raised understanding and embodying dual heritages. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that an individual can act as a embodiment of English culture, an individual who can somehow transplant the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly British tutor from early childhood will will not instantly achieve the goal they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, cultural identity can not be dictated from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, UK identity is something Adam believes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I believe the situation that the global community regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
