"A household residing in north London seeks an extraordinary and experienced educator to support their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily overlook the wording "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it may be the most important element of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have since been received since the anonymous family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the post has received attention across the press, with several asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding first doubt, he viewed the concept "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical aspect of their demand, and how young their son is.
But, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had by then become established".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family informed the consultant they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their younger child.
The plan: To bring in a UK tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the development at the start here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they aim to instil.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be an individual who went to "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to him the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in horse riding, skiing, creative fields and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he explained the family desired the tutor to register the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son become a "English gentleman" will lead to achievement and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "English culture", could the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Certainly", replied he. "The family realize this could fail, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who have these concerns.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who supplies private tutors, commented that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had relocated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that a single person can serve as a embodiment of English culture, a person who can possibly impart the characteristics of a UK sophisticate onto a 12-month-old child, appears optimistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"Based on my background, having a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood 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 numerous of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, personal identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the international society holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
