"A household residing in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and qualified tutor to support their most junior child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might easily skip the term "initial stages" as just figurative language.
Yet, it may be the most significant part of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a infant.
Many of applications have since been submitted since the anonymous family posted their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has received attention across the media, with numerous asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their hunt, said that in spite of early skepticism, he considered the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he noted they appreciated the atypical nature of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
But, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already set in".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", he answered. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He stated the older sibling had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family explained to him they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To bring in a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the education at the start here is kind of absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will adopt the English characteristics they wish to instil.
The consultant said the tutor had to be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – 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 doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family told him the selected educator should preferably also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about success and provide access.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.
But, despite all this tutelage in "Britishness", would the child absorb so-called cultural influence from the globally influenced family he lives with anyway?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "The family know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who express similar concerns.
An education leader, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, commented that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the age of seven, and had been brought up knowing and embodying dual heritages. He went on to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can serve as a embodiment of UK identity, an individual who can possibly impart the qualities of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, seems to me idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"In my experience, having a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will not instantly achieve the goal they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, English culture is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and marketed.
"In my view the reality that the international society views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
