"A household residing in north London is looking for an exceptional and skilled instructor to support their youngest child on his early path to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might easily skip the phrase "initial stages" as just figurative language.
Yet, it could be the most significant aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it seeks to find a tutor for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have already been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the advert has received attention in the press, with many wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, said that despite initial scepticism, he found the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the unusual character of their demand, and how young their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already become established".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert answered. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He stated the elder child had picked up "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family told Adam they did not want the same situation to repeat itself with their infant.
The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is somewhat acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to cultivate.
Adam noted the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Money No Object
The family told the expert the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of interests.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, notwithstanding all this instruction in "UK identity", might the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", said he. "The family realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who share those doubts.
Another CEO, chief executive of a tutoring service, who also offer individual instructors, commented that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
Peter explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the age of 7 years old, and had been raised knowing and practicing two backgrounds. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that one individual can act as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can possibly transfer the qualities of a UK sophisticate onto a infant child, appears naive and unrealistic," he stated.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will not automatically achieve the goal they want.
"I did not have such a tutor, and however I have been fortunate enough to enjoy many of the situations they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, Britishness is something Adam believes can be instructed – and sold.
"In my view the reality that the global community holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
