"A family located in north London seeks an extraordinary and experienced tutor to support their most junior child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might easily skip the wording "beginning" as simple figurative language.
But, it may be the most significant aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it seeks to hire a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have since been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted notice across the news, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that despite early scepticism, he found the plan "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional nature of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
However, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already taken hold".
But what does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He explained the firstborn had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed Adam they did not want history to happen again with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a British tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the development at the start here is somewhat osmotic," said the CEO.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will adopt the British traits they wish to impart.
He noted the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to him the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Furthermore though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son grow into a "English gentleman" will lead to success and create opportunities.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he notes.
But, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", would the child adopt what is termed cultural bias from the international family he lives with in any case?
"Absolutely", answered the CEO. "The family know this may not work, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the tutoring industry who have these concerns.
An education leader, chief executive of a tutoring service, who provides personal educators, stated that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
The expert noted that he had moved from China to the Britain at the period of childhood, and had been raised knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The idea that a single person can act as a representation of Britishness, a person who can possibly transfer the qualities of a UK sophisticate onto a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and impractical," he wrote.
"Based on my background, employing a quintessentially British tutor from babyhood will does not instantly achieve the result they desire.
"I did not have such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to experience several of the situations they desire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, cultural identity can not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the situation that the world holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
