"Parents located in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and qualified educator to support their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might easily miss the term "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
But, it may be the most important part of this unusual position posting, as it aims to hire a teacher for a infant.
Many of responses have already been sent in since the unidentified 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 received interest across the media, with several asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, said that in spite of early scepticism, he considered the concept "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", Adam responded. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is kind of absorbed naturally," stated the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will acquire the UK customs they wish to impart.
The consultant noted the tutor must be someone who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to Adam the successful candidate should preferably also have understanding of or interest in riding, skiing, creative fields and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will lead to achievement and open doors.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he notes.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "English culture", would the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he resides with regardless?
"Yes", replied the CEO. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the education sector who share those doubts.
An education leader, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the process of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
Peter explained that he had relocated from China to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and practicing two backgrounds. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a representation of English culture, someone who can somehow transplant the attributes of a English gentleman upon a infant child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly British tutor from early childhood will does not automatically create the goal they hope for.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to live many of the experiences they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, Britishness is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"In my view the fact that the global community regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
