"Parents located in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and skilled tutor to assist their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might naturally overlook the phrase "beginning" as mere figurative language.
However, it could be the most important part of this distinctive job advert, as it aims to recruit a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of responses have now been sent in since the unidentified family published their call for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the post has gained notice in the news, with several questioning why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their hunt, stated that despite early scepticism, he considered the idea "visionary", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the atypical character of their demand, and how immature their son is.
However, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam replied. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family informed Adam they did not want history to recur with their infant.
The intention: To hire a English tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the learning at the outset here is somewhat acquired indirectly," stated the CEO.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to instil.
He noted the tutor needed to be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – 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 carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told him the chosen tutor should preferably also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a range of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "British gentleman" will result in achievement and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he notes.
However, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", would the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he lives with anyway?
"Certainly", answered Adam. "The parents know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the education sector who express these doubts.
Another CEO, head and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer private tutors, commented that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
The expert wrote that he had relocated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and practicing both cultures. He progressed to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can serve as a embodiment of Britishness, an individual who can possibly impart the qualities of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and impractical," he wrote.
"Based on my background, having a typically British tutor from babyhood will does not instantly create the result they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, personal identity cannot be dictated from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something the expert believes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the fact that the global community regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
