"A household located in north London wants to find an remarkable and skilled instructor to guide their most junior child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might easily miss the term "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.
Yet, it may be the most significant aspect of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to find a tutor for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have already been sent in since the unidentified family published their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the listing has gained notice in the media, with numerous questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, stated that in spite of first scepticism, he viewed the idea "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they appreciated the atypical nature of their request, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already set in".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", the expert answered. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He said the older sibling had picked up "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family told Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to happen again with their younger child.
The intention: To hire a UK tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the learning at the beginning here is kind of osmotic," explained the expert.
It's via this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to instil.
The consultant said the tutor had to be someone who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will result in achievement and open doors.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", might the child adopt what is termed cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", said Adam. "They understand this could fail, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Impractical
Several in the education sector who have these reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
He wrote that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of childhood, and had been educated understanding and embodying dual heritages. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can function as a embodiment of Britishness, a person who can in some way transplant the characteristics of a English gentleman to a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and unfeasible," he stated.
"From my perspective, engaging a distinctly English tutor from early childhood will does not automatically produce the result they want.
"I never had such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to enjoy several of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, cultural identity can not be dictated from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, Britishness is something Adam believes can be instructed – and sold.
"I believe the fact that the global community regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
