"Parents located in North London seeks an remarkable and qualified tutor to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might naturally skip the term "initial stages" as just an expression.
But, it may be the most significant element of this distinctive job advert, as it aims to hire a teacher for a one-year-old.
Numerous of submissions have since been submitted since the anonymous family posted their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained attention in the news, with many questioning why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that notwithstanding first scepticism, he considered the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he said they appreciated the atypical nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then become established".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", he answered. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family told Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their younger child.
The plan: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the learning at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," explained the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will adopt the UK customs they aim to cultivate.
Adam explained the tutor needed to be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, winter sports, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son grow into a "English gentleman" will bring about success and provide access.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
However, despite all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child adopt what is termed cultural leaning from the multicultural family he is raised by regardless?
"Certainly", said Adam. "The parents know this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he said.
Impractical
Several in the private teaching field who have these concerns.
Another CEO, chief executive of a tutoring service, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
The expert explained that he had relocated from China to the United Kingdom at the time of seven, and had been brought up knowing and practicing two backgrounds. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that an individual can function as a embodiment of English culture, a person who can possibly impart the attributes of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"From my perspective, engaging a typically British tutor from early childhood will will not necessarily create the result they desire.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience several of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, personal identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, English culture is something the expert thinks can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the situation that the world regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
