"A family based in north London wants to find an remarkable and skilled instructor to support their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might readily miss the wording "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
Yet, it might be the most important part of this distinctive job advert, as it seeks to recruit a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have now been received since the anonymous family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has attracted notice across the press, with several asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that despite initial scepticism, he considered the concept "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unusual nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already become established".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert answered. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He stated the older sibling had adopted "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed Adam they did not want this pattern to happen again with their new baby.
The intention: To bring in a UK tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the learning at the beginning here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said the CEO.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will adopt the English characteristics they want to impart.
The consultant explained the tutor had to be someone who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, winter sports, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will bring about achievement and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he notes.
However, despite all this tutelage in "UK identity", could the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the international family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "The parents realize this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who have these reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of an educational organization, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the process of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had moved from China to the UK at the time of seven, and had been brought up understanding and embodying both cultures. He went on to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can act as a living vessel of UK identity, a person who can possibly impart the qualities of a English gentleman onto a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"From my perspective, engaging a typically British tutor from infancy will does not automatically produce the result they hope for.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy several of the situations they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be taught – and sold.
"I believe the situation that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
