"A family residing in North London seeks an exceptional and qualified instructor to support their youngest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might readily overlook the phrase "initial stages" as simple figurative language.
But, it could be the crucial part of this distinctive position posting, as it seeks to hire a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have now been received since the unnamed family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained interest across the media, with numerous asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that in spite of first skepticism, he found the concept "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional nature of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had by then set in".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the elder child had adopted "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family informed him they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their infant.
The intention: To hire a UK tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the development at the start here is rather osmotic," stated the CEO.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the UK customs they want to instil.
Adam said the tutor had to be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Money No Object
The family informed him the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, in spite of all this instruction in "Britishness", would the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", said he. "They realize this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who express those concerns.
An education leader, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, stated that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
Peter explained that he had relocated from China to the United Kingdom at the time of childhood, and had been educated understanding and living dual heritages. He continued to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that a single person can function as a embodiment of UK identity, an individual who can somehow transplant the attributes of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he wrote.
"In my experience, having a quintessentially English tutor from babyhood will does not instantly achieve the goal they desire.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience several of the situations they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity should not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something Adam believes can be taught – and sold.
"I believe the fact that the world holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
