"Parents based in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and qualified instructor to support their most junior child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might naturally miss the term "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
But, it could be the most significant element of this unusual job advert, as it attempts to recruit a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of submissions have already been received since the anonymous family posted their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the listing has gained interest in the news, with many asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that despite initial scepticism, he viewed the plan "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he said they understood the unconventional aspect of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then become established".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "How you eat, how you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their younger child.
The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the development at the beginning here is rather osmotic," stated the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they want to impart.
He explained the tutor must be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to register the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son become a "English gentleman" will result in success and create opportunities.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he comments.
Yet, in spite of all this tutelage in "UK identity", would the child absorb what is termed cultural influence from the international family he resides with anyway?
"Certainly", replied Adam. "The parents understand this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who express these reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
He explained that he had relocated from China to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been brought up knowing and practicing both cultures. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that an individual can serve as a embodiment of UK identity, someone who can possibly transfer the characteristics of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, appears optimistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"Based on my background, employing a distinctly UK tutor from early childhood will does not automatically achieve the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience several of the experiences they hope for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity can not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something Adam thinks can be taught – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the world holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
