"A household based in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and experienced tutor to support their youngest child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might easily skip the term "initial stages" as simple an expression.
However, it might be the most significant part of this unique job advert, as it seeks to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have since been sent in since the unidentified family published their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the post has received interest in the media, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their search, said that in spite of early scepticism, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they appreciated the atypical aspect of their request, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert replied. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family explained to the consultant they did not want history to recur with their younger child.
The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who should speak with RP, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is kind of absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to instil.
Adam noted the tutor had to be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed him the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and musical activities so as to influence the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son become a "UK sophisticate" will result in achievement and create opportunities.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", could the child adopt what is termed cultural influence from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Absolutely", replied he. "The parents understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he explained.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who express those concerns.
An education leader, chief executive of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, commented that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter noted that he had moved from China to the Britain at the time of seven, and had been educated understanding and living two backgrounds. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a representation of UK identity, someone who can in some way transplant the characteristics of a English gentleman to a infant child, appears idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from infancy will does not instantly create the goal they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience several of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, self-identity can not be forced from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, English culture is something the expert thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the fact that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
