"A family residing in north London wants to find an remarkable and skilled instructor to support their youngest child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might naturally miss the phrase "beginning" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it may be the most significant element of this unique position posting, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of applications have now been submitted since the unnamed family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained attention across the press, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that in spite of early scepticism, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the unusual nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural bias had by then taken hold".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam replied. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to him they did not want the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a British tutor, who should speak with RP, to shape the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the development at the start here is kind of acquired indirectly," explained the expert.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they aim to impart.
The consultant said the tutor must be someone who attended "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator must be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Money No Object
The family informed the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a selection 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, guiding their son become a "English gentleman" will bring about success and open doors.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
But, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", could the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Certainly", said he. "The parents know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he said.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who have those doubts.
An education leader, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the development of embracing two identities, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
He noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been brought up knowing and embodying both cultures. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can act as a embodiment of UK identity, someone who can somehow transplant the attributes of a English gentleman to a 12-month-old child, appears naive and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly UK tutor from babyhood will will not necessarily produce the outcome they desire.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to enjoy several of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, personal identity can not be imposed from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, English culture is something the CEO believes can be educated – and sold.
"In my view the reality that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
