"A household residing in north London seeks an extraordinary and qualified educator to support their most junior child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might readily miss the phrase "initial stages" as mere a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the most significant element of this unique job advert, as it seeks to recruit a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of submissions have now been submitted since the anonymous family posted their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has received notice in the press, with several questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their search, said that in spite of first scepticism, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they understood the unusual nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
But, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already taken hold".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He said the older sibling had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family explained to the consultant they did not want the same situation to repeat itself with their new baby.
The intention: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the beginning here is rather acquired indirectly," stated the CEO.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they wish to instil.
The consultant said the tutor must be an individual who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire 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, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the chosen tutor should preferably also have understanding of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son develop into a "English gentleman" will result in success and provide access.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he comments.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "Britishness", might the child pick up what is termed cultural influence from the globally influenced family he resides with anyway?
"Certainly", said he. "The family know this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who express similar doubts.
An education leader, chief executive of a tutoring service, who supplies personal educators, wrote that "the process of embracing two identities, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
The expert noted that he had moved from the Far East to the Britain at the time of seven, and had been educated knowing and living dual heritages. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that an individual can act as a representation of Britishness, a person who can possibly transplant the attributes of a English gentleman to a infant child, seems to me optimistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"In my experience, having a distinctly UK tutor from infancy will will not necessarily create the result they hope for.
"I never had such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy many of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, self-identity can not be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and sold.
"I think the situation that the world holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
