"A household residing in North London wants to find an remarkable and skilled educator to guide their smallest child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might naturally miss the wording "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the most important aspect of this distinctive position posting, as it aims to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of submissions have since been received since the unidentified family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted attention across the press, with numerous asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding early scepticism, he found the plan "visionary", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional nature of their request, and how young their son is.
However, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already become established".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", Adam responded. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He stated the firstborn had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family told the consultant they did not want the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To hire a English tutor, who must speak with RP, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is rather osmotic," stated Adam.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will adopt the UK customs they want to impart.
He explained the tutor needed to be someone who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed him the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a diverse set of interests.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "British gentleman" will bring about achievement and provide access.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.
But, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", could the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with regardless?
"Yes", replied he. "The parents understand this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the tutoring industry who share similar doubts.
Another CEO, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
Peter wrote that he had relocated from China to the United Kingdom at the time of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and practicing two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The notion that one individual can act as a representation of English culture, a person who can possibly transfer the attributes of a British gentleman upon a infant child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"Based on my background, engaging a typically UK tutor from babyhood will does not automatically create the goal they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been privileged enough to experience numerous of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, Britishness is something the expert thinks can be instructed – and sold.
"In my view the situation that the world holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
