"Parents located in North London is looking for an exceptional and skilled tutor to assist their youngest child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally skip the phrase "initial stages" as mere an expression.
However, it might be the crucial part of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to recruit a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have already been sent in since the unnamed family posted their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the post has attracted notice in the media, with many questioning why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, said that in spite of early skepticism, he considered the idea "visionary", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he said they appreciated the unusual nature of their request, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert answered. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent the same situation to repeat itself with their new baby.
The intention: To engage a UK tutor, who should speak with RP, to guide the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the development at the outset here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said Adam.
It's via this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they wish to impart.
Adam noted the tutor needed to be an individual who went to "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 performing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to the expert the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will result in achievement and provide access.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he comments.
But, despite all this tutelage in "English culture", might the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Yes", replied he. "They understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the education sector who share these concerns.
Another CEO, chief executive of a tutoring service, who supplies personal educators, commented that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert noted that he had relocated from China to the Britain at the time of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and living two backgrounds. He went on to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that one individual can act as a embodiment of Britishness, a person who can somehow transplant the attributes of a UK sophisticate onto a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"From my perspective, having a typically UK tutor from babyhood will will not automatically produce the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience several of the experiences they hope for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, self-identity can not be imposed from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the situation that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
