"Parents located in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and experienced tutor to assist their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might easily overlook the phrase "initial stages" as simple an expression.
But, it may be the most significant part of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to find a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have since been sent in since the unnamed family posted their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received interest throughout the press, with several wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their hunt, explained that despite early doubt, he found the concept "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he said they understood the unusual aspect 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 point "cultural conditioning had already become established".
But what did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", Adam responded. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He explained the older sibling had absorbed "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family explained to him they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the education at the beginning here is kind of absorbed naturally," stated the CEO.
It's through this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the British traits they wish to cultivate.
He said the tutor must be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed the expert the selected educator should preferably also have knowledge of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a range of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and open doors.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he comments.
But, despite all this instruction in "English culture", could the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the globally influenced family he resides with in any case?
"Absolutely", replied the CEO. "The parents understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the education sector who have those concerns.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides personal educators, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert explained that he had moved from the Far East to the Britain at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated experiencing and living two backgrounds. He went on to learn at Cambridge University.
"The idea that one individual can function as a embodiment of UK identity, someone who can in some way transplant the characteristics of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, appears idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"Based on my background, employing a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will will not necessarily achieve the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live many of the situations they hope for their son."
He added: "The truth is, cultural identity can not be dictated from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, English culture is something the expert believes can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the situation that the global community holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
