"Parents located in north London seeks an exceptional and experienced tutor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily overlook the term "beginning" as simple figurative language.
Yet, it could be the most significant element of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to find a mentor for a infant.
Hundreds of submissions have since been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the listing has gained notice in the press, with numerous questioning why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding initial scepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the unusual nature of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already taken hold".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", Adam answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had adopted "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family informed him they wished to avoid history to repeat itself with their new baby.
The intention: To bring in a UK tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is rather osmotic," explained the expert.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will acquire the UK customs they aim to instil.
The consultant explained the tutor must be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family told him the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes 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 view, helping their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will result in success and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
But, notwithstanding all this guidance in "Britishness", might the child absorb what is termed cultural influence from the globally influenced family he lives with regardless?
"Certainly", replied Adam. "They realize this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the education sector who express similar doubts.
An education leader, chief executive of a tutoring service, who supplies personal educators, stated that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert noted that he had moved from the Far East to the Britain at the time of childhood, and had been educated knowing and living dual heritages. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The idea that a single person can serve as a living vessel of Britishness, a person who can in some way impart the qualities of a English gentleman upon a infant child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"Based on my background, employing a typically English tutor from infancy will will not automatically create the goal they desire.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been lucky enough to enjoy many of the situations they hope for their son."
He added: "The truth is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the situation that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
