"Parents based in North London is looking for an remarkable and qualified educator to guide their most junior child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily overlook the term "beginning" as just figurative language.
Yet, it could be the crucial element of this unique employment listing, as it aims to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have already been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained attention across the news, with numerous questioning why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, head and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, said that in spite of first skepticism, he considered the idea "visionary", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical aspect of their request, and how immature their son is.
But, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam responded. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the older sibling had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed him they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their infant.
The strategy: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the development at the outset here is rather acquired indirectly," said the CEO.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will pick up the British traits they want to cultivate.
Adam explained the tutor had to be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator must be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Additionally though, he explained the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about success and open doors.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he adds.
Yet, notwithstanding all this guidance in "UK identity", could the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the international family he is raised by regardless?
"Absolutely", answered Adam. "The family know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who express those concerns.
An education leader, chief executive of a tutoring service, who provides personal educators, stated that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
The expert wrote that he had relocated from the Far East to the Britain at the age of childhood, and had been educated understanding and living dual heritages. He continued to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that a single person can serve as a living vessel of English culture, someone who can possibly transfer the attributes of a UK sophisticate onto a infant child, strikes me as naive and unrealistic," he commented.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will will not instantly create the result they desire.
"I never had such a figure, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience many of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity can not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I think the reality that the global community regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
