"Parents residing in the northern part of London wants to find an extraordinary and qualified educator to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally miss the phrase "beginning" as simple figurative language.
However, it could be the crucial part of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Many of applications have now been submitted since the anonymous family posted their request for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the post has received attention in the press, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, chief executive of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that despite first doubt, he viewed the idea "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unusual aspect of their request, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already set in".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert answered. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To bring in a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the development at the start here is kind of osmotic," stated Adam.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the British traits they want to cultivate.
Adam said the tutor needed to be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in riding, skiing, creative fields and music so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
More than that though, he said the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a selection 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 perspective, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will bring about achievement and create opportunities.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he notes.
Yet, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child adopt alleged cultural leaning from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Certainly", answered the CEO. "The parents know this could fail, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the education sector who express these reservations.
An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
Peter noted that he had emigrated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been raised understanding and living both cultures. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The idea that one individual can function as a representation of UK identity, someone who can in some way transplant the characteristics of a UK sophisticate onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly UK tutor from babyhood will not necessarily achieve the outcome they desire.
"I did not have such a tutor, and however I have been privileged enough to enjoy many of the experiences they desire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, cultural identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, UK identity is something the expert believes can be instructed – and sold.
"I believe the reality that the world holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
