"A family based in North London seeks an extraordinary and qualified tutor to assist their youngest child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might easily skip the phrase "beginning" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it may be the most significant element of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to find a tutor for a infant.
Many of submissions have now been submitted since the anonymous family advertised their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the post has gained notice across the press, with several wondering why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that despite early doubt, he viewed the plan "visionary", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he said they understood the unusual character of their demand, and how immature their son is.
But, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had by then set in".
But what does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert answered. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the older sibling had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they did not want the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the development at the beginning here is somewhat absorbed naturally," explained the CEO.
It's via this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they wish to impart.
He noted the tutor must be somebody who attended "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to him the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
Additionally though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
But, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child absorb what is termed cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by regardless?
"Certainly", replied he. "They realize this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the private teaching field who have similar doubts.
An education leader, chief executive of an educational organization, who supplies personal educators, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
The expert explained that he had relocated from China to the Britain at the time of childhood, and had been raised understanding and practicing two backgrounds. He continued to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that one individual can act as a living vessel of UK identity, an individual who can somehow impart the qualities of a English gentleman onto a infant child, appears idealistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"Based on my background, employing a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will will not automatically create the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been privileged enough to enjoy several of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, cultural identity can not be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Of course, UK identity is something the expert believes can be instructed – and marketed.
"In my view the reality that the global community holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
