"A household residing in the northern part of London seeks an remarkable and experienced instructor to support their smallest child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily overlook the term "beginning" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it might be the most important element of this unique position posting, as it aims to find a tutor for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have already been received since the unnamed family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the post has attracted notice across the press, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, said that despite early skepticism, he viewed the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they understood the unconventional character of their request, 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 firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already become established".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", he replied. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the older sibling had adopted "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family informed him they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is rather absorbed naturally," explained the CEO.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will adopt the English characteristics they want to impart.
The consultant said the tutor needed to be someone who went to "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed him the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in equestrian activities, skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to success and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "Britishness", would the child absorb what is termed cultural influence from the multicultural family he is raised by anyway?
"Yes", said the CEO. "The family realize this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who have these concerns.
An education leader, head and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies personal educators, commented that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
He noted that he had emigrated from China to the UK at the period of seven, and had been educated understanding and living dual heritages. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that one individual can act as a embodiment of UK identity, an individual who can somehow transplant the qualities of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"Based on my background, engaging a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will not instantly produce the goal they hope for.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live several of the experiences they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, self-identity can not be imposed 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 instructed – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the international society holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
