"Parents based in North London seeks an remarkable and skilled educator to support their smallest child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally skip the term "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it might be the most significant element of this unique job advert, as it seeks to find a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of submissions have now been received since the unnamed family published their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the advert has gained interest throughout the news, with many wondering why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their quest, stated that in spite of early doubt, he found the concept "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the unusual aspect of their request, and how early in age their son is.
However, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
But what did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert answered. "How you eat, how you speak".
He stated the elder child had absorbed "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family told Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To engage a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the education at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," said the CEO.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to impart.
He noted the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a variety of lessons 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 "British gentleman" will lead to success and create opportunities.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, despite all this tutelage in "Britishness", would the child pick up what is termed cultural leaning from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", replied he. "They know this may not work, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who express similar concerns.
An education leader, head and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies private tutors, commented that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
Peter wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the age of seven, and had been raised experiencing and embodying both cultures. He went on to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that one individual can function as a living vessel of Britishness, someone who can in some way transfer the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a infant child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a typically UK tutor from infancy will will not necessarily produce the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience many of the situations they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, personal identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something the CEO thinks can be taught – and marketed.
"I think the reality that the global community regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
