"Parents residing in north London is looking for an exceptional and qualified instructor to guide their youngest child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might naturally skip the wording "beginning" as simple an expression.
But, it may be the most significant element of this unique position posting, as it aims to find a mentor for a infant.
Numerous of submissions have now been received since the unidentified family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the post has received interest in the media, with many wondering why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their hunt, said that notwithstanding early scepticism, he found the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he noted they understood the unusual nature of their request, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then become established".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the older sibling had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their younger child.
The plan: To bring in a UK tutor, who should speak with RP, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the education at the start here is somewhat osmotic," explained Adam.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will adopt the British traits they aim to instil.
Adam said the tutor had to be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – 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, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family informed him the successful candidate should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son become a "British gentleman" will result in achievement and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he adds.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", would the child adopt so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", said he. "They understand this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he explained.
Impractical
Several in the private teaching field who share these reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies private tutors, commented that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had relocated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been raised understanding and practicing two backgrounds. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that one individual can act as a living vessel of English culture, an individual who can somehow transfer the attributes of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will not automatically achieve the outcome they want.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, self-identity should not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, English culture is something Adam believes can be educated – and sold.
"I believe the fact that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
