"A family residing in the northern part of London wants to find an extraordinary and skilled instructor to assist their most junior child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might readily skip the phrase "initial stages" as mere a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the crucial aspect of this unusual employment listing, as it seeks to hire a teacher for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have already been sent in since the unnamed family published their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the listing has attracted interest throughout the media, with many wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their hunt, said that in spite of first doubt, he viewed the concept "visionary", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he noted they appreciated the atypical character of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
But, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed him they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the development at the start here is somewhat osmotic," said Adam.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will acquire the British traits they aim to impart.
Adam said the tutor needed to be an individual who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed Adam the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in equestrian activities, winter sports, the arts and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a wide range of interests.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a range of courses so the child would be "horseback 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 "UK sophisticate" will bring about achievement and open doors.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", might the child pick up what is termed cultural influence from the globally influenced family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", answered he. "The parents understand this might not succeed, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as early as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who express similar doubts.
An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who supplies private tutors, wrote that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
Peter explained that he had moved from Asia to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been raised understanding and embodying dual heritages. He continued to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can act as a embodiment of Britishness, a person who can somehow transplant the characteristics of a British gentleman onto a infant child, seems to me naive and unrealistic," he wrote.
"In my experience, having a quintessentially UK tutor from infancy will not instantly produce the goal they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to experience many of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, English culture is something the CEO thinks can be instructed – and marketed.
"In my view the situation that the international society views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
