"A household located in North London wants to find an remarkable and qualified instructor to guide their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally miss the phrase "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it may be the most important element of this distinctive position posting, as it attempts to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Many of submissions have since been sent in since the anonymous family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the listing has gained notice in the media, with many wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their search, said that notwithstanding initial skepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they understood the unusual aspect of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", Adam answered. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the firstborn 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 recur with their younger child.
The intention: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the development at the outset here is rather acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they want to instil.
The consultant said the tutor needed to be an individual who went to "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of interests.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to register the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about success and open doors.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
But, despite all this tutelage in "English culture", might the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the international family he is raised by anyway?
"Yes", said Adam. "The family understand this might not succeed, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who express similar reservations.
An education leader, chief executive of an educational organization, who supplies individual instructors, commented that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
Peter noted that he had emigrated from China to the Britain at the age of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and living dual heritages. He progressed to study at Cambridge University.
"The idea that a single person can function as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can somehow impart the attributes of a English gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, appears optimistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"In my experience, employing a typically English tutor from early childhood will not automatically create the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and however I have been privileged enough to enjoy many of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, self-identity can not be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be taught – and commercialized.
"In my view the fact that the international society holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
