"A household residing in North London seeks an exceptional and qualified educator to assist their most junior child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might readily skip the wording "initial stages" as simple figurative language.
Yet, it might be the most significant element of this unusual job advert, as it seeks to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have since been sent in since the unidentified family posted their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has gained notice in the media, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, stated that despite first skepticism, he found the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unusual nature of their requirement, 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 waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had by then set in".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam replied. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family informed Adam they hoped to prevent history to recur with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the education at the start here is rather acquired indirectly," said the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will adopt the British traits they aim to instil.
He explained the tutor needed to be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Money No Object
The family told him the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Additionally though, he said 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 around three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will lead to success and open doors.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he notes.
But, in spite of all this instruction in "English culture", might the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by in any case?
"Absolutely", said Adam. "They understand this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he stated.
Impractical
A number of in the education sector who have similar reservations.
Peter Cui, head and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the process of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
The expert wrote that he had moved from China to the Britain at the period of seven, and had been educated experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that one individual can act as a representation of English culture, an individual who can somehow impart the qualities of a English gentleman to a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially British tutor from babyhood will will not instantly produce the outcome they want.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to live many of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, personal identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the international society holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
