"A family based in the northern part of London wants to find an exceptional and qualified tutor to support their most junior child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally miss the term "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
However, it may be the crucial element of this unique employment listing, as it seeks to recruit a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have now been sent in since the unnamed family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained attention across the press, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, said that despite first doubt, he viewed the idea "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he noted they understood the unconventional character of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", the expert answered. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the older sibling had adopted "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told him they did not want the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The plan: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is rather acquired indirectly," explained the expert.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the English characteristics they want to instil.
The consultant noted the tutor needed to be someone who went to "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, the arts and music so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son develop into a "English gentleman" will result in success and provide access.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
But, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", could the child adopt what is termed cultural leaning from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Certainly", answered Adam. "The family know this may not work, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who share those doubts.
Peter Cui, head and founder of Blue Education, who also offer personal educators, stated that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
The expert explained that he had moved from China to the UK at the time of seven, and had been brought up understanding and practicing both cultures. He continued to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The concept that one individual can act as a representation of English culture, a person who can possibly transplant the attributes of a English gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, appears naive and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, engaging a typically UK tutor from early childhood will not automatically achieve the outcome they hope for.
"I did not have such a figure, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to experience numerous of the situations they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity can not be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, English culture is something the CEO thinks can be taught – and marketed.
"In my view the reality that the international society holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
