"Parents residing in North London wants to find an remarkable and skilled instructor to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the wording "beginning" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the most significant element of this unique job advert, as it aims to find a mentor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of submissions have already been sent in since the unidentified family posted their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the post has attracted interest in the press, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their hunt, explained that despite early doubt, he viewed the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they understood the atypical character of their request, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained 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 conditioning had by then taken hold".
But what did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the older sibling had adopted "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they hoped to prevent history to happen again with their infant.
The intention: To hire a British tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the learning at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will pick up the UK customs they wish to impart.
He said the tutor must be an individual who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in riding, winter sports, creative fields and music so as to influence the child in a diverse set of passions.
Additionally though, he explained the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son become a "English gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.
But, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child pick up alleged cultural leaning from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Absolutely", replied the CEO. "The family understand this might not succeed, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the education sector who express those doubts.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies individual instructors, stated that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
Peter explained that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and living two backgrounds. He progressed to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can act as a representation of UK identity, someone who can somehow transplant the characteristics of a British gentleman to a one-year-old child, seems to me idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially English tutor from infancy will will not necessarily create the goal they desire.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy many of the situations they hope for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, self-identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Of course, UK identity is something Adam believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the fact that the international society regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
