"Parents located in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and qualified instructor to support their most junior child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might easily skip the wording "beginning" as just figurative language.
Yet, it might be the crucial part of this unique position posting, as it aims to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Many of responses have since been submitted since the unidentified family published their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has attracted interest throughout the news, with numerous wondering why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their hunt, explained that in spite of early doubt, he considered the concept "visionary", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they recognized the unconventional nature of their demand, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already become established".
But what does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam replied. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He said the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family informed him they did not want history to happen again with their younger child.
The intention: To engage a UK tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the development at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said the CEO.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will pick up the UK customs they want to cultivate.
He said the tutor must be an individual who attended "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed Adam the chosen tutor should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in riding, winter sports, the arts and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "English gentleman" will result in achievement and open doors.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
However, despite all this tutelage in "English culture", might the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the international family he lives with in any case?
"Absolutely", answered Adam. "The family understand this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the education sector who share these reservations.
An education leader, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, wrote that "the process of becoming bicultural, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
Peter wrote that he had relocated from China to the United Kingdom at the time of childhood, and had been educated understanding and embodying dual heritages. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that a single person can act as a representation of UK identity, someone who can somehow transplant the qualities of a British gentleman upon a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from infancy will will not instantly achieve the outcome they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been privileged enough to experience numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity can not be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the CEO hopes can be educated – and commercialized.
"In my view the situation that the global community regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
