"A family located in north London wants to find an extraordinary and qualified instructor to guide their smallest child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might easily miss the term "initial stages" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it may be the most important element of this unique job advert, as it seeks to find a teacher for a infant.
Many of responses have since been submitted since the unidentified family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has attracted notice across the press, with many asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their hunt, explained that in spite of early scepticism, he considered the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional character of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", he replied. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the older sibling had picked up "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they did not want the same situation to repeat itself with their younger child.
The strategy: To bring in a English tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is somewhat acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the British traits they want to impart.
Adam noted the tutor had to be an individual who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told him the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.
But, in spite of all this tutelage in "English culture", could the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Yes", answered he. "They know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who have those doubts.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, commented that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He wrote that he had relocated from China to the Britain at the period of childhood, and had been educated knowing and embodying both cultures. He went on to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that one individual can serve as a representation of UK identity, someone who can possibly transplant the qualities of a UK sophisticate onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will not automatically produce the goal they want.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live many of the experiences they hope for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, cultural identity can not be forced from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"In my view the situation that the global community regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
