"A household based in the northern part of London is looking for an extraordinary and experienced tutor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally skip the term "initial stages" as just an expression.
But, it may be the crucial aspect of this unusual position posting, as it aims to recruit a teacher for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have since been sent in since the unidentified family published their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the post has gained interest throughout the media, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that despite early skepticism, he considered the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional nature of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already set in".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", Adam answered. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to him they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who must speak with RP, to guide the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the education at the outset here is somewhat acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the British traits they wish to instil.
Adam noted the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he explained the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "English gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and create opportunities.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
However, despite all this instruction in "UK identity", might the child adopt alleged cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he lives with in any case?
"Yes", said the CEO. "The parents know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who have similar concerns.
An education leader, chief executive of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had relocated from China to the UK at the period of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that a single person can function as a representation of UK identity, a person who can possibly transplant the characteristics of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, appears naive and impractical," he commented.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will does not instantly produce the result they hope for.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience several of the situations they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, cultural identity can not be dictated from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something Adam thinks can be educated – and sold.
"I believe the fact that the world holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
