"A family residing in the northern part of London wants to find an exceptional and skilled educator to guide their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might naturally skip the term "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it might be the most significant aspect of this unusual job advert, as it seeks to recruit a tutor for a infant.
Numerous of applications have since been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the advert has received interest in the press, with several asking why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their search, explained that in spite of initial doubt, he viewed the concept "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they appreciated the atypical character of their demand, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already set in".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He explained the elder child had picked up "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family explained to him they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a UK tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the beginning here is somewhat acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will acquire the English characteristics they wish to instil.
The consultant noted the tutor must be an individual who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Money No Object
The family told him the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in riding, winter sports, creative fields and music so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he said the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to success and provide access.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", would the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Certainly", answered he. "The parents know this might not succeed, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Impractical
There are some in the private teaching field who share these concerns.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
Peter explained that he had relocated from Asia to the UK at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated knowing and practicing dual heritages. He progressed to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that one individual can act as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can possibly transplant the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a quintessentially UK tutor from early childhood will does not necessarily create the result they desire.
"I did not have such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience numerous of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, personal identity should not be dictated from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, Britishness is something the expert hopes can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the reality that the global community regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
