"A household residing in North London seeks an exceptional and qualified tutor to assist their smallest child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might readily miss the term "first-steps" as simple an expression.
However, it may be the crucial element of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have already been submitted since the unidentified family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has received attention across the press, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that in spite of first scepticism, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional nature of their demand, and how young their son is.
However, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then set in".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the firstborn had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid history to recur with their younger child.
The plan: To engage a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they want to impart.
He said the tutor must be an individual who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the selected educator should preferably also have understanding of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to success and create opportunities.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "English culture", could the child pick up what is termed cultural bias from the international family he resides with in any case?
"Absolutely", said the CEO. "The family understand this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he explained.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who share similar concerns.
Peter Cui, chief executive of a tutoring service, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had relocated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the age of childhood, and had been brought up knowing and practicing two backgrounds. He progressed to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that a single person can function as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can possibly transfer the attributes of a English gentleman to a 12-month-old child, appears optimistic and impractical," he stated.
"Based on my background, employing a distinctly British tutor from early childhood will will not necessarily achieve the result they desire.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to enjoy many of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, personal identity should not be dictated from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, Britishness is something Adam believes can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the situation that the international society holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
