"Parents located in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and qualified instructor to guide their smallest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might easily miss the wording "beginning" as mere figurative language.
However, it could be the most significant aspect of this unique job advert, as it aims to recruit a teacher for a one-year-old.
Many of submissions have already been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained interest throughout the media, with many questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their quest, stated that despite initial skepticism, he considered the concept "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he mentioned they recognized the unusual aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
However, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already set in".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family informed him they did not want history to recur with their infant.
The intention: To bring in a UK tutor, who must speak with RP, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the development at the start here is rather osmotic," stated the CEO.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be someone who attended "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Money No Object
The family informed Adam the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or passion in equestrian activities, skiing, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
Additionally though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of courses 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 perspective, guiding their son develop into a "English gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he adds.
But, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", could the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the international family he resides with anyway?
"Absolutely", said Adam. "The parents understand this may not work, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'we should try and we should start as early as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he explained.
Impractical
Several in the tutoring industry who share those concerns.
An education leader, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the development of becoming bicultural, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
He noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the time of seven, and had been brought up understanding and embodying dual heritages. He continued to study at Cambridge University.
"The notion that an individual can act as a living vessel of UK identity, someone who can possibly transfer the characteristics of a UK sophisticate to a infant child, seems to me naive and unrealistic," he commented.
"Based on my background, having a quintessentially British tutor from babyhood will will not instantly create the goal they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they desire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, personal identity can not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert believes can be taught – and sold.
"I believe the fact that the world regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
