"A household based in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and experienced educator to assist their smallest child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might readily overlook the wording "beginning" as just figurative language.
However, it might be the most important element of this unique position posting, as it attempts to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of responses have already been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the post has gained notice in the media, with several asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their hunt, stated that notwithstanding early skepticism, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he said they recognized the unconventional nature of their demand, and how young their son is.
However, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already taken hold".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they did not want this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The strategy: To bring in a UK tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the learning at the start here is rather acquired indirectly," said the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to instil.
The consultant noted the tutor must be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Additionally though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son become a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he adds.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "UK identity", would the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the international family he is raised by anyway?
"Absolutely", said the CEO. "The family understand this might not succeed, but they've just taken the view of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who express those doubts.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
He wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and living two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that an individual can function as a embodiment of Britishness, a person who can somehow transfer the qualities of a British gentleman onto a infant child, seems to me naive and impractical," he commented.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will not automatically produce the goal they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience several of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, English culture is something the expert hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the fact that the world holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
