"A household residing in north London wants to find an remarkable and skilled tutor to guide their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might naturally overlook the term "beginning" as just figurative language.
But, it may be the most significant part of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to find a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have since been sent in since the unnamed family posted their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted attention in the news, with numerous wondering why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their search, said that notwithstanding first doubt, he viewed the idea "visionary", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they appreciated the unusual aspect of their demand, and how immature their son is.
However, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then set in".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", he responded. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed the consultant they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their younger child.
The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the learning at the outset here is rather osmotic," stated the expert.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the British traits they aim to impart.
He said the tutor must be somebody who studied at "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to the expert the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son develop into a "English gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and create opportunities.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he adds.
Yet, despite all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the international family he is raised by anyway?
"Absolutely", replied Adam. "The family know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he stated.
Impractical
Several in the education sector who share those reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of a tutoring service, who provides personal educators, commented that "the process of becoming bicultural, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had relocated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been brought up knowing and practicing both cultures. He progressed to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that one individual can act as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can somehow transplant the attributes of a English gentleman upon a infant child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"In my experience, employing a typically British tutor from infancy will does not automatically create the goal they want.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy many of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity should not be forced from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"In my view the situation that the world regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
