"A household located in north London seeks an remarkable and qualified tutor to support their most junior child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally skip the wording "initial stages" as simple an expression.
But, it could be the most important aspect of this unusual employment listing, as it seeks to recruit a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of submissions have now been submitted since the unidentified family published their request for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has attracted interest throughout the media, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, stated that despite initial skepticism, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they appreciated the atypical nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", Adam replied. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The plan: To hire a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the learning at the start here is kind of absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they wish to cultivate.
The consultant said the tutor must be somebody who went to "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to him the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of interests.
More than that though, he explained the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will result in accomplishment and create opportunities.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
However, despite all this guidance in "English culture", would the child absorb what is termed cultural influence from the international family he resides with in any case?
"Certainly", replied he. "The family know this could fail, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Impractical
Several in the tutoring industry who share those concerns.
An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
Peter wrote that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the period of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and living dual heritages. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that one individual can act as a embodiment of Britishness, someone who can in some way transfer the qualities of a English gentleman upon a one-year-old child, appears naive and impractical," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will does not instantly create the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live several of the experiences they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity should not be dictated from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something the expert thinks can be taught – and sold.
"In my view the reality that the international society views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
