"Parents located in the northern part of London seeks an remarkable and qualified tutor to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily overlook the phrase "beginning" as just a turn of phrase.
But, it could be the most significant part of this unusual employment listing, as it seeks to recruit a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Many of submissions have now been received since the unidentified family advertised their request for the highly paid tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the listing has gained interest in the news, with numerous wondering why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their search, said that in spite of first doubt, he found the concept "visionary", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional aspect of their demand, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had by then set in".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the older sibling had picked up "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family informed the consultant they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their new baby.
The intention: To bring in a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is kind of osmotic," stated Adam.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will adopt the UK customs they aim to cultivate.
He said the tutor needed to be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
Furthermore though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about achievement and open doors.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he comments.
However, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "Britishness", would the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the international family he resides with in any case?
"Absolutely", said he. "They realize this may not work, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he stated.
Impractical
There are some in the education sector who share these reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies personal educators, stated that "the process of embracing two identities, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
Peter noted that he had emigrated from China to the UK at the age of seven, and had been brought up understanding and practicing dual heritages. He progressed to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that one individual can function as a living vessel of UK identity, a person who can in some way impart the characteristics of a English gentleman to a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"In my experience, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will will not automatically produce the result they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live several of the experiences they hope for their son."
He added: "The fact is, cultural identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something the expert hopes can be instructed – and marketed.
"In my view the reality that the international society regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
