"Parents based in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and experienced instructor to support their smallest child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might easily overlook the term "initial stages" as mere a turn of phrase.
However, it may be the most important aspect of this unusual position posting, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have now been sent in since the unnamed family advertised their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the advert has received interest across the press, with several asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their search, said that notwithstanding first skepticism, he found the idea "visionary", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they understood the unusual aspect of their demand, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already set in".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", he replied. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He explained the elder child had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family explained to the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to happen again with their new baby.
The strategy: To bring in a UK tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the development at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," stated Adam.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to impart.
Adam said the tutor needed to be someone who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Additionally though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a range of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son grow into a "British gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
But, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child absorb what is termed cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", replied he. "The family realize this may not work, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who have similar concerns.
Another CEO, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, commented that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
He explained that he had emigrated from Asia to the Britain at the age of childhood, and had been raised knowing and practicing both cultures. He progressed to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a embodiment of Britishness, an individual who can possibly impart the attributes of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will not necessarily create the result they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, personal identity can not be forced from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, English culture is something Adam thinks can be taught – and commercialized.
"I think the situation that the international society regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
