"Parents residing in north London wants to find an extraordinary and skilled instructor to guide their most junior child on his early path to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might easily miss the phrase "beginning" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it might be the most important aspect of this unique employment listing, as it aims to hire a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have now been sent in since the anonymous family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted interest throughout the media, with several wondering why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their hunt, said that despite early doubt, he found the concept "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he noted they recognized the unusual aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam replied. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He explained the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family explained to the consultant they wished to avoid history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The plan: To bring in a UK tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the learning at the beginning here is kind of absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.
Adam noted the tutor must be an individual who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, creative fields and music so as to influence the child in a diverse set of passions.
Additionally though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to achievement and provide access.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he notes.
Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "English culture", could the child pick up alleged cultural influence from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Yes", answered he. "They understand this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as early as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the tutoring industry who have these reservations.
An education leader, head and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the development of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
Peter noted that he had relocated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the period of seven, and had been raised understanding and practicing two backgrounds. He went on to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that one individual can serve as a embodiment of English culture, a person who can somehow transfer the attributes of a UK sophisticate upon a 12-month-old child, seems to me naive and unrealistic," he stated.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially British tutor from babyhood will not automatically create the result they want.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience numerous of the situations they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, self-identity can not be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, English culture is something the expert believes can be taught – and marketed.
"I think the fact that the global community views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
