"A household residing in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and experienced instructor to assist their most junior child on his early path to growing into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might easily miss the wording "initial stages" as just an expression.
But, it could be the most significant part of this distinctive job advert, as it seeks to hire a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have already been submitted since the unidentified family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who must be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the advert has attracted notice across the news, with numerous wondering why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that in spite of initial scepticism, he considered the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical character of their demand, and how young their son is.
However, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then set in".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family told Adam they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the beginning here is rather osmotic," stated the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to instil.
The consultant said the tutor had to be someone who attended "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told him the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in riding, skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to achievement and create opportunities.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child absorb what is termed cultural influence from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "They realize this could fail, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'we should try and we should start as early as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who share similar doubts.
An education leader, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who supplies personal educators, wrote that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He wrote that he had relocated from the Far East to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated experiencing and living two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that one individual can function as a representation of Britishness, a person who can possibly transfer the attributes of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, strikes me as naive and unfeasible," he stated.
"Based on my background, having a typically British tutor from infancy will will not necessarily produce the outcome they desire.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, personal identity can not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Of course, Britishness is something the expert thinks can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the international society regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
