"A family located in north London seeks an extraordinary and skilled instructor to assist their most junior child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the term "beginning" as just a turn of phrase.
But, it may be the crucial aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have since been submitted since the unidentified family published their call for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained interest across the news, with many asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their quest, said that notwithstanding early scepticism, he viewed the concept "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional nature of their request, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had by then become established".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He said the firstborn had picked up "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed the consultant they did not want this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The intention: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the beginning here is rather acquired indirectly," explained Adam.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will pick up the UK customs they want to instil.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be somebody who attended "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told him the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in equestrian activities, winter sports, creative fields and music so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
More than that though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will result in achievement and open doors.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
But, notwithstanding all this instruction in "English culture", might the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Absolutely", replied he. "The family know this may not work, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he said.
Impractical
Several in the tutoring industry who express similar doubts.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who also offer personal educators, wrote that "the process of becoming bicultural, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
Peter wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the period of childhood, and had been educated experiencing and embodying dual heritages. He progressed to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a living vessel of UK identity, someone who can in some way transplant the attributes of a English gentleman to a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will not necessarily produce the goal they desire.
"I never had such a figure, and yet I have been privileged enough to experience numerous of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, cultural identity can not be dictated from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be taught – and sold.
"I think the situation that the global community views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
