"Parents residing in north London is looking for an exceptional and experienced educator to assist their most junior child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally miss the phrase "first-steps" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it could be the most significant aspect of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of responses have already been submitted since the unnamed family posted their request for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has received attention across the press, with many asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that in spite of first scepticism, he considered the concept "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they understood the atypical nature of their request, and how immature their son is.
However, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already set in".
But what does the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", Adam answered. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He stated the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed him they did not want this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The plan: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the learning at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," stated Adam.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to instil.
He said the tutor had to be someone who attended "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told the expert the successful candidate should preferably also have knowledge of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Additionally though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son become a "English gentleman" will result in achievement and create opportunities.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "English culture", would the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the international family he lives with regardless?
"Certainly", replied he. "The family realize this could fail, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the private teaching field who have these concerns.
An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
The expert explained that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the period of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying both cultures. He continued to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that an individual can serve as a representation of English culture, someone who can in some way transplant the characteristics of a British gentleman to a infant child, seems to me optimistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"Based on my background, employing a typically British tutor from infancy will will not necessarily create the outcome they want.
"I did not have such a figure, and however I have been privileged enough to live several of the situations they hope for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, personal identity cannot be forced from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, Britishness is something the CEO hopes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I think the fact that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
