"Parents based in the northern part of London wants to find an extraordinary and experienced educator to support their most junior child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might readily overlook the wording "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the most important aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it aims to find a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of responses have since been received since the unnamed family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the listing has attracted interest in the media, with numerous wondering why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that in spite of early doubt, he considered the plan "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the unusual character of their request, and how early in age their son is.
However, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural bias had by then set in".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam answered. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family informed Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To bring in a UK tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the learning at the beginning here is somewhat acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will acquire the UK customs they wish to instil.
The consultant said the tutor must be an individual who went to "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told him the selected educator should preferably also have familiarity of or passion in riding, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
Additionally though, he said the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son become a "British gentleman" will lead to achievement and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
However, despite all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child absorb what is termed cultural influence from the globally influenced family he is raised by in any case?
"Yes", said he. "They understand this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he said.
Impractical
A number of in the tutoring industry who share these concerns.
Peter Cui, chief executive of a tutoring service, who supplies personal educators, stated that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
He explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the time of seven, and had been raised experiencing and practicing dual heritages. He continued to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that an individual can function as a living vessel of UK identity, a person who can somehow impart the qualities of a UK sophisticate onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me idealistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will will not necessarily achieve the outcome they want.
"I never had such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live many of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity can not be dictated from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something Adam thinks can be instructed – and sold.
"I think the situation that the global community views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
