"A family residing in north London wants to find an exceptional and skilled tutor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might easily skip the term "initial stages" as just an expression.
But, it may be the crucial part of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to hire a teacher for a infant.
Numerous of applications have since been sent in since the unidentified family published their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the post has received interest in the press, with numerous questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their hunt, explained that despite first doubt, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he said they recognized the atypical nature of their request, and how young their son is.
However, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already set in".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their new baby.
The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is kind of osmotic," said the CEO.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to impart.
He explained the tutor had to be someone who attended "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will result in success and create opportunities.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he comments.
Yet, in spite of all this instruction in "UK identity", might the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he is raised by anyway?
"Absolutely", replied the CEO. "They know this might not succeed, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who express these reservations.
Peter Cui, head and founder of a tutoring service, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
He noted that he had moved from the Far East to the Britain at the age of 7 years old, and had been raised experiencing and embodying dual heritages. He went on to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that a single person can function as a representation of UK identity, a person who can in some way transfer the attributes of a UK sophisticate onto a infant child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will not necessarily achieve the outcome they desire.
"I did not have such a figure, and however I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the situations they desire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, self-identity should not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, English culture is something Adam believes can be instructed – and sold.
"I think the fact that the world views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
