"Parents located in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and qualified educator to guide their youngest child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might readily miss the term "initial stages" as mere an expression.
Yet, it could be the most important element of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have now been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received attention throughout the news, with numerous wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their search, explained that despite initial scepticism, he considered the plan "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he mentioned they recognized the unusual nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already become established".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the firstborn had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family told him they hoped to prevent history to recur with their infant.
The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the learning at the beginning here is kind of acquired indirectly," stated the CEO.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to impart.
Adam explained the tutor needed to be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told him the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Additionally though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "British gentleman" will bring about success and open doors.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he comments.
Yet, notwithstanding all this instruction in "English culture", might the child adopt what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "They realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the education sector who share these concerns.
An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, commented that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
He noted that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been brought up understanding and practicing two backgrounds. He continued to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that one individual can serve as a living vessel of English culture, an individual who can somehow transfer the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"Based on my background, employing a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will will not instantly produce the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience several of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, self-identity cannot be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, UK identity is something the expert believes can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the fact that the world holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
