"A household located in the northern part of London is looking for an extraordinary and qualified educator to support their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might easily miss the phrase "initial stages" as just an expression.
But, it may be the most significant aspect of this unusual employment listing, as it seeks to recruit a mentor for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have since been sent in since the unidentified family published their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the advert has gained attention in the press, with numerous wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that notwithstanding initial scepticism, he considered the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he said they appreciated the atypical nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then set in".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert responded. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family told the consultant they did not want this pattern to happen again with their younger child.
The plan: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the start here is somewhat osmotic," said Adam.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will adopt the UK customs they want to cultivate.
The consultant explained the tutor had to be somebody who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
Additionally though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will result in success and open doors.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he notes.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "English culture", might the child adopt so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by in any case?
"Certainly", said the CEO. "The family understand this could fail, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he stated.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who have similar reservations.
An education leader, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who also offer private tutors, commented that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had emigrated from China to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated knowing and living both cultures. He progressed to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that one individual can serve as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can in some way transfer the qualities of a English gentleman onto a one-year-old child, appears optimistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"Based on my background, employing a typically English tutor from early childhood will not instantly produce the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to experience numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity can not be dictated from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something Adam believes can be taught – and marketed.
"In my view the situation that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
