"A household located in the northern part of London is looking for an extraordinary and experienced instructor to assist their youngest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might easily skip the wording "initial stages" as simple a turn of phrase.
But, it could be the most significant aspect of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have already been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted notice throughout the media, with many questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their hunt, explained that in spite of initial scepticism, he viewed the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he said they understood the atypical aspect of their request, and how early in age their son is.
However, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
But what does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", he responded. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He said the firstborn had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid history to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is rather osmotic," explained the expert.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will adopt the UK customs they aim to impart.
He said the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in equestrian activities, winter sports, creative fields and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son grow into a "British gentleman" will result in success and create opportunities.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he adds.
But, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", could the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by in any case?
"Absolutely", answered the CEO. "The parents know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as early as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he said.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the education sector who have those doubts.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the age of seven, and had been brought up knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The notion that an individual can function as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can possibly impart the qualities of a UK sophisticate to a infant child, seems to me idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"In my experience, having a distinctly English tutor from infancy will not automatically create the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live several of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, self-identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the fact that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
