"A household residing in the northern part of London seeks an exceptional and qualified educator to assist their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might naturally skip the term "beginning" as mere an expression.
Yet, it could be the crucial part of this unique employment listing, as it attempts to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have already been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted interest in the press, with several wondering why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that despite early scepticism, he found the plan "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he said they understood the unusual aspect of their request, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family told him they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To hire a British tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the start here is rather osmotic," explained the CEO.
It's through this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will acquire the English characteristics they want to impart.
The consultant noted the tutor must be somebody who attended "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or interest in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son develop into a "English gentleman" will lead to achievement and provide access.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he comments.
Yet, despite all this guidance in "English culture", might the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Certainly", answered he. "The family know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he said.
Impractical
Several in the education sector who express these concerns.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, wrote that "the process of becoming bicultural, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter wrote that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the period of seven, and had been educated experiencing and living both cultures. He progressed to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that an individual can serve as a living vessel of English culture, someone who can somehow transfer the qualities of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will not necessarily achieve the goal they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live many of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, personal identity cannot be imposed from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, English culture is something the expert thinks can be taught – and commercialized.
"In my view the reality that the world regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
