"A household located in north London wants to find an extraordinary and experienced tutor to assist their smallest child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might naturally miss the term "beginning" as just figurative language.
Yet, it may be the most significant element of this unusual job advert, as it attempts to find a mentor for a infant.
Numerous of submissions have now been received since the unidentified family published their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the listing has attracted notice in the media, with many wondering why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that despite initial skepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional character 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 postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already become established".
But what does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed him they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the start here is kind of absorbed naturally," stated Adam.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to impart.
Adam explained the tutor had to be someone who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
However, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", might the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", answered Adam. "The family know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.
Impractical
Several in the private teaching field who express these reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
Peter noted that he had emigrated from Asia to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and practicing both cultures. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that an individual can function as a living vessel of UK identity, a person who can in some way transplant the qualities of a British gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and unfeasible," he stated.
"Based on my background, having a quintessentially English tutor from babyhood will will not automatically produce the outcome they hope for.
"I did not have such a figure, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to experience numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, self-identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, UK identity is something Adam believes can be educated – and sold.
"I think the situation that the world regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating