"A household located in North London is looking for an exceptional and qualified tutor to guide their smallest child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the phrase "initial stages" as simple an expression.
But, it may be the most significant part of this unique job advert, as it aims to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of applications have already been received since the anonymous family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has gained notice across the press, with numerous wondering why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, stated that in spite of early skepticism, he considered the plan "visionary", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he noted they appreciated the unusual nature of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
However, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already set in".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", he replied. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had adopted "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family told the consultant they did not want the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the development at the beginning here is rather acquired indirectly," said the CEO.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will adopt the UK customs they want to impart.
The consultant said the tutor needed to be an individual who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Money No Object
The family informed him the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and music so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Furthermore though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about success and open doors.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, despite all this guidance in "English culture", could the child adopt so-called cultural bias from the international family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "They realize this may not work, but they've just taken the view of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who express those concerns.
Another CEO, chief executive of an educational organization, who supplies personal educators, stated 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 Asia to the Britain at the time of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and living dual heritages. He went on to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that an individual can serve as a living vessel of Britishness, an individual who can possibly transplant the attributes of a English gentleman upon a infant child, appears naive and unfeasible," he commented.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly UK tutor from infancy will does not automatically produce the outcome they want.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience many of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity should not be forced from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, Britishness is something the expert thinks can be educated – and sold.
"I think the reality that the world holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
