"A family residing in north London wants to find an remarkable and qualified instructor to support their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily miss the phrase "beginning" as simple a turn of phrase.
Yet, it might be the most significant aspect of this unique position posting, as it aims to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of applications have since been sent in since the anonymous family published their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has gained notice throughout the press, with many asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that in spite of early doubt, he viewed the plan "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they appreciated the unusual nature of their requirement, 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 held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family informed him they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To engage a British tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the development at the outset here is rather absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will adopt the UK customs they want to instil.
Adam said the tutor had to be an individual who went to "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed the expert the selected educator should preferably also have understanding of or interest in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of passions.
Furthermore though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and open doors.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he comments.
But, despite all this guidance in "UK identity", could the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he is raised by anyway?
"Absolutely", said he. "They understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the education sector who have those doubts.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who also offer private tutors, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had emigrated from China to the United Kingdom at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated understanding and embodying dual heritages. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The idea that one individual can serve as a embodiment of UK identity, a person who can somehow transfer the attributes of a English gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"Based on my background, employing a distinctly UK tutor from infancy will not necessarily produce the goal they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to experience many of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Of course, Britishness is something the expert believes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I believe the situation that the world holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
