"A family based in north London wants to find an remarkable and experienced instructor to support their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might naturally miss the wording "beginning" as simple an expression.
Yet, it might be the most significant part of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have now been sent in since the unnamed family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received attention in the press, with many wondering why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that despite first skepticism, he found the plan "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he said they appreciated the unusual nature of their request, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already set in".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on 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 UK tutor, who must speak with RP, to guide the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the development at the beginning here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained the CEO.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they want to cultivate.
He said the tutor must be someone who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or interest in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a wide range of interests.
Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he adds.
But, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", might the child adopt so-called cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he resides with anyway?
"Absolutely", said he. "The parents know this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who share those concerns.
An education leader, chief executive of Blue Education, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
He explained that he had moved from China to the United Kingdom at the age of childhood, and had been educated knowing and embodying both cultures. He progressed to learn at Cambridge University.
"The idea that one individual can serve as a living vessel of UK identity, an individual who can somehow transfer the attributes of a UK sophisticate upon a infant child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"From my perspective, having a typically English tutor from babyhood will will not automatically create the goal they hope for.
"I never had such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to live several of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert believes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the situation that the world views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
