"A family based in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and experienced tutor to guide their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might naturally skip the wording "first-steps" as simple figurative language.
But, it might be the crucial aspect of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to recruit a tutor for a infant.
Many of applications have now been received since the anonymous family posted their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted interest in the press, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that despite initial scepticism, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unusual aspect of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
However, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", the expert replied. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the firstborn had absorbed "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent history to recur with their infant.
The plan: To engage a UK tutor, who should speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the beginning here is somewhat absorbed naturally," explained the expert.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.
Adam said the tutor must be an individual who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to the expert the selected educator should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
More than that though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son become a "British gentleman" will lead to success and create opportunities.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he comments.
Yet, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", could the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he is raised by regardless?
"Absolutely", answered the CEO. "They know this might not succeed, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as early as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who share those doubts.
An education leader, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies personal educators, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
Peter explained that he had emigrated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the age of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying dual heritages. He progressed to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that a single person can function as a embodiment of English culture, an individual who can possibly impart the attributes of a UK sophisticate upon a 12-month-old child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he wrote.
"Based on my background, employing a distinctly UK tutor from early childhood will will not instantly create the outcome they want.
"I never had such a tutor, and yet I have been privileged enough to experience many of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be imposed from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, English culture is something the expert thinks can be instructed – and sold.
"I think the fact that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
