"Parents based in the northern part of London is looking for an extraordinary and qualified instructor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might readily miss the phrase "first-steps" as simple figurative language.
Yet, it may be the most significant aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have already been sent in since the anonymous family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who must be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the post has received notice across the press, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that in spite of initial skepticism, he found the idea "visionary", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they appreciated the atypical character of their request, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already become established".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam replied. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family informed him they did not want history to happen again with their infant.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the development at the start here is rather osmotic," explained the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will acquire the British traits they aim to impart.
The consultant explained the tutor must be an individual who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or interest in horse riding, skiing, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
More than that though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will lead to success and open doors.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "English culture", would the child pick up what is termed cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", answered he. "They understand this may not work, but they've just taken 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 a concern," he stated.
Impractical
A number of in the tutoring industry who share those doubts.
An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, stated that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated knowing and living two backgrounds. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The notion that an individual can function as a embodiment of UK identity, a person who can possibly transplant the attributes of a UK sophisticate onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me naive and unrealistic," he wrote.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from babyhood will will not instantly create the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and however I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the situations they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, self-identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Of course, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the fact that the world holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
