"Parents based in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and skilled tutor to assist their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might naturally skip the wording "first-steps" as mere figurative language.
However, it could be the most significant element of this unusual employment listing, as it seeks to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have now been received since the unidentified family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained notice throughout the media, with numerous questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their hunt, explained that despite initial skepticism, he viewed the concept "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he said they appreciated the unconventional character of their requirement, and how early in age 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 age "cultural conditioning had by then set in".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam responded. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He said the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family explained to him they wished to avoid the same situation to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To bring in a British tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to influence the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the learning at the start here is kind of osmotic," explained Adam.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they want to impart.
He said the tutor needed to be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Money No Object
The family informed him the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in equestrian activities, skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to success and open doors.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this instruction in "Britishness", would the child adopt so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he resides with anyway?
"Certainly", replied Adam. "The family understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the private teaching field who express those reservations.
Peter Cui, head and founder of Blue Education, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
Peter explained that he had moved from China to the UK at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated experiencing and embodying dual heritages. He went on to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that an individual can function as a embodiment of UK identity, a person who can in some way transplant the qualities of a UK sophisticate to a 12-month-old child, seems to me naive and unfeasible," he commented.
"In my experience, engaging a distinctly British tutor from babyhood will will not necessarily achieve the goal they desire.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been privileged enough to live several of the situations they hope for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, personal identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, English culture is something the expert thinks can be educated – and sold.
"I believe the reality that the world views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
