"Parents located in North London seeks an exceptional and experienced tutor to assist their most junior child on his initial journey to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might easily miss the wording "initial stages" as just an expression.
However, it might be the crucial part of this distinctive position posting, as it aims to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of submissions have already been sent in since the unnamed family advertised their call for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the advert has received attention across the news, with numerous asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, said that notwithstanding initial doubt, he viewed the concept "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they recognized the unconventional nature of their request, and how early in age their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He stated the elder child had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family told Adam they hoped to prevent the same situation to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is somewhat absorbed naturally," stated Adam.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they wish to cultivate.
The consultant explained the tutor had to be somebody who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed Adam the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son grow into a "British gentleman" will result in success and open doors.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he notes.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "UK identity", would the child absorb what is termed cultural influence from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Absolutely", said Adam. "The family realize this might not succeed, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'we should try and we should start as early as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the tutoring industry who have these doubts.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, stated that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
He noted that he had emigrated from China to the United Kingdom at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and living dual heritages. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The concept that one individual can act as a embodiment of UK identity, a person who can in some way transfer the qualities of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, appears idealistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"In my experience, employing a distinctly English tutor from early childhood will will not necessarily achieve the result they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and however I have been lucky enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they desire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, self-identity cannot be forced from the outside; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO hopes can be taught – and marketed.
"I think the reality that the international society views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
