"Parents located in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and experienced tutor to assist their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally skip the phrase "beginning" as simple a turn of phrase.
But, it could be the crucial part of this distinctive position posting, as it aims to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of responses have now been submitted since the unnamed family posted their search for the highly paid tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the advert has attracted notice in the media, with numerous asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their search, said that in spite of early skepticism, he considered the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unusual aspect of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", the expert replied. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the elder child had absorbed "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family informed him they hoped to prevent the same situation to repeat itself with their infant.
The plan: To bring in a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the beginning here is somewhat osmotic," said the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to impart.
The consultant explained the tutor must be someone who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to him the selected educator should preferably also have understanding of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will lead to success and create opportunities.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he comments.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "English culture", could the child adopt what is termed cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by anyway?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "They understand this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as early as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he explained.
Impractical
A number of in the private teaching field who share these reservations.
Another CEO, chief executive of an educational organization, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert wrote that he had emigrated from China to the UK at the period of childhood, and had been educated experiencing and embodying both cultures. He progressed to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that one individual can function as a embodiment of Britishness, a person who can in some way transplant the characteristics of a English gentleman to a infant child, strikes me as naive and unfeasible," he stated.
"Based on my background, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from early childhood will not instantly create the result they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live several of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I believe the fact that the international society regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
