"A household located in North London is looking for an extraordinary and experienced instructor to assist their smallest child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might readily overlook the wording "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the most important part of this unique job advert, as it aims to find a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have since been sent in since the unidentified family posted their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the post has attracted notice across the news, with several wondering why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their hunt, explained that notwithstanding initial scepticism, he found the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they understood the atypical nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
However, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam replied. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family told Adam they did not want history to recur with their younger child.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who must speak with RP, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the education at the outset here is rather absorbed naturally," explained the expert.
It's via this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will acquire the British traits they wish to impart.
The consultant noted the tutor must be an individual who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told the expert the successful candidate should preferably also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in horse riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of passions.
Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son become a "British gentleman" will bring about achievement and provide access.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
Yet, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", would the child pick up what is termed cultural bias from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", replied Adam. "The parents understand this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who express similar concerns.
An education leader, chief executive of Blue Education, who also offer private tutors, stated that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
The expert noted that he had relocated from China to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated understanding and embodying dual heritages. He progressed to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that one individual can act as a living vessel of Britishness, someone who can somehow transfer the qualities of a British gentleman upon a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"Based on my background, employing a typically English tutor from babyhood will not automatically produce the goal they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to experience several of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, cultural identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, English culture is something the expert believes can be instructed – and sold.
"In my view the reality that the international society regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
