"A family located in north London seeks an remarkable and skilled instructor to guide their youngest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might easily skip the phrase "beginning" as simple figurative language.
Yet, it could be the crucial aspect of this unique job advert, as it attempts to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Many of applications have now been submitted since the anonymous family published their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the listing has attracted interest throughout the media, with numerous wondering why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding initial skepticism, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he noted they appreciated the atypical aspect of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the elder child had adopted "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The plan: To hire a British tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is somewhat acquired indirectly," explained the expert.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to impart.
Adam noted the tutor must be an individual who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed Adam the chosen tutor should preferably also have familiarity of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Furthermore though, he said the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a range of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "English gentleman" will bring about success and create opportunities.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he adds.
Yet, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", could the child adopt what is termed cultural influence from the globally influenced family he resides with anyway?
"Absolutely", answered Adam. "The parents realize this may not work, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who have those reservations.
An education leader, chief executive of Blue Education, who also offer private tutors, commented that "the process of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
The expert explained that he had relocated from Asia to the Britain at the time of childhood, and had been raised understanding and practicing two backgrounds. He went on to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can serve as a embodiment of UK identity, a person who can possibly transplant the characteristics of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and unrealistic," he stated.
"In my experience, employing a typically British tutor from early childhood will does not necessarily create the outcome they desire.
"I did not have such a tutor, and yet I have been privileged enough to live many of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity can not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam hopes can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the situation that the international society regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
