"Parents based in North London seeks an extraordinary and skilled tutor to support their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might readily miss the term "initial stages" as simple an expression.
But, it might be the most significant aspect of this unique employment listing, as it seeks to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have already been submitted since the unidentified family posted their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the listing has attracted interest across the press, with numerous asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding first scepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical aspect of their request, and how immature their son is.
However, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
But what did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the older sibling had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The plan: To hire a UK tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the education at the beginning here is rather osmotic," stated the CEO.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they wish to impart.
Adam said the tutor must be somebody who went to "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son develop into a "English gentleman" will lead to achievement and open doors.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he adds.
But, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", could the child absorb so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", replied he. "The family realize this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who share these doubts.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who also offer personal educators, stated that "the process of becoming bicultural, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
He explained that he had relocated from China to the UK at the period of childhood, and had been educated understanding and living both cultures. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that one individual can function as a living vessel of Britishness, someone who can in some way impart the qualities of a UK sophisticate upon a 12-month-old child, appears idealistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"From my perspective, engaging a typically English tutor from early childhood will does not instantly create the outcome they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to live many of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, cultural identity should not be forced from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, Britishness is something the expert hopes can be educated – and sold.
"In my view the situation that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating