"A household located in the northern part of London wants to find an extraordinary and experienced instructor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might naturally skip the term "beginning" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the crucial part of this unique position posting, as it attempts to recruit a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have already been sent in since the anonymous family advertised their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the advert has gained attention in the media, with many questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their quest, said that despite early scepticism, he considered the concept "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he noted they recognized the atypical nature of their demand, and how young their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had by then set in".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert responded. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the elder child had picked up "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family told Adam they did not want this pattern to happen again with their younger child.
The strategy: To bring in a UK tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," said the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they wish to impart.
The consultant said the tutor had to be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told Adam the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in riding, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes 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 perspective, assisting their son develop into a "English gentleman" will lead to success and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this instruction in "Britishness", would the child adopt so-called cultural leaning from the international family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", replied Adam. "The family realize this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who have similar doubts.
An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had moved from China to the United Kingdom at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He progressed to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that one individual can act as a representation of UK identity, someone who can in some way transplant the attributes of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"Based on my background, employing a distinctly UK tutor from early childhood will will not necessarily produce the result they hope for.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Of course, Britishness is something Adam believes can be taught – and sold.
"I think the reality that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
