"Parents based in north London wants to find an exceptional and experienced educator to support their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might naturally skip the term "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
However, it may be the crucial aspect of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of applications have now been received since the unnamed family published their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has attracted attention in the media, with many asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that in spite of initial doubt, he found the idea "visionary", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they recognized the unusual aspect of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already become established".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", he answered. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the older sibling had adopted "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to the consultant they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a British tutor, who should speak with RP, to influence the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the development at the start here is kind of acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to cultivate.
He noted the tutor needed to be someone who attended "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told him the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Additionally though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a range of classes 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 minds, assisting their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about achievement and open doors.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
But, despite all this instruction in "English culture", could the child absorb alleged cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with regardless?
"Absolutely", said Adam. "The parents know this may not work, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who express those reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the process of becoming bicultural, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
He noted that he had relocated from China to the United Kingdom at the time of seven, and had been raised knowing and embodying both cultures. He progressed to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The notion that an individual can function as a living vessel of Britishness, an individual who can possibly transplant the qualities of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, appears optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"Based on my background, having a typically English tutor from babyhood will not automatically produce the outcome they desire.
"I did not have such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to live several of the situations they desire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, Britishness is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the world regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
