"A family based in the northern part of London is looking for an extraordinary and qualified tutor to support their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might easily skip the term "beginning" as just an expression.
Yet, it might be the most significant element of this distinctive employment listing, as it seeks to find a teacher for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have now been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained notice in the press, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that despite first skepticism, he viewed the concept "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional nature of their request, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already set in".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert answered. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the firstborn had adopted "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family told him they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the learning at the start here is somewhat osmotic," explained the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will acquire the English characteristics they want to instil.
Adam explained the tutor had to be somebody who attended "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of interests.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son become a "British gentleman" will lead to success and provide access.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he adds.
But, in spite of all this tutelage in "English culture", would the child adopt alleged cultural leaning from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Absolutely", replied the CEO. "The family understand this might not succeed, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Impractical
Several in the private teaching field who have these doubts.
Peter Cui, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
He wrote that he had moved from the Far East to the Britain at the time of seven, and had been raised experiencing and embodying both cultures. He went on to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that one individual can act as a representation of English culture, a person who can somehow impart the qualities of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he stated.
"Based on my background, employing a typically UK tutor from infancy will will not necessarily create the result they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and yet I have been privileged enough to experience numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, self-identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the situation that the global community views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating