"Parents residing in north London seeks an exceptional and qualified tutor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might readily miss the term "beginning" as just figurative language.
Yet, it might be the most significant element of this unusual job advert, as it aims to find a tutor for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have now been sent in since the unidentified family published their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has attracted interest across the media, with numerous asking why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their hunt, said that notwithstanding early doubt, he considered the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the unusual nature of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
However, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had by then taken hold".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family explained to him they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the development at the start here is kind of acquired indirectly," explained the expert.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to impart.
Adam explained the tutor had to be somebody who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Money No Object
The family told the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a wide range of interests.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted 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 develop into a "English gentleman" will result in success and create opportunities.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
But, in spite of all this instruction in "English culture", could the child adopt alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Certainly", answered the CEO. "They understand this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the education sector who share these concerns.
Another CEO, head and founder of an educational organization, who also offer private tutors, commented that "the development of becoming bicultural, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter explained that he had relocated from China to the UK at the age of seven, and had been educated experiencing and living two backgrounds. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can act as a representation of English culture, an individual who can somehow transfer the attributes of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, appears naive and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, engaging a distinctly UK tutor from early childhood will does not instantly create the result they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be forced from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO hopes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the world holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
