"Parents located in North London seeks an exceptional and experienced tutor to guide their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily overlook the phrase "beginning" as mere an expression.
But, it may be the most significant element of this unusual job advert, as it aims to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have already been sent in since the unnamed family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the post has attracted attention in the news, with many wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their search, said that in spite of early doubt, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unusual aspect of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already taken hold".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", Adam answered. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family informed him they did not want this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a UK tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is somewhat absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will acquire the British traits they wish to impart.
He explained the tutor had to be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Money No Object
The family told him the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will lead to success and open doors.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he notes.
However, in spite of all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the international family he is raised by regardless?
"Yes", answered Adam. "They know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as early as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the tutoring industry who share similar reservations.
An education leader, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the development of becoming bicultural, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
The expert wrote that he had relocated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been brought up experiencing and living dual heritages. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The idea that one individual can act as a living vessel of UK identity, an individual who can somehow impart the qualities of a English gentleman onto a infant child, strikes me as naive and unrealistic," he stated.
"Based on my background, having a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will does not automatically produce the result they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to live many of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, self-identity can not be dictated from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, English culture is something Adam thinks can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
