"A household located in north London wants to find an exceptional and experienced instructor to guide their youngest child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might naturally miss the wording "initial stages" as just an expression.
However, it might be the most significant element of this distinctive employment listing, as it seeks to find a mentor for a infant.
Many of responses have since been sent in since the unnamed family posted their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the listing has received notice throughout the media, with several wondering why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, said that despite initial skepticism, he considered the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional nature of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam responded. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent history to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a UK tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the learning at the start here is kind of absorbed naturally," stated Adam.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to cultivate.
He explained the tutor had to be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
More than that though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son develop into a "British gentleman" will result in success and provide access.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
Yet, despite all this guidance in "English culture", might the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by regardless?
"Absolutely", answered the CEO. "The parents realize this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the education sector who have similar concerns.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the process of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the time of seven, and had been raised understanding and living dual heritages. He progressed to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that a single person can serve as a embodiment of Britishness, someone who can somehow transplant the attributes of a British gentleman to a infant child, appears idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from babyhood will not instantly produce the result they want.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience many of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He added: "The reality is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the international society holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
