"Parents based in north London seeks an extraordinary and qualified tutor to support their smallest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might readily miss the wording "initial stages" as simple figurative language.
However, it could be the crucial aspect of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to find a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Many of submissions have already been sent in since the anonymous family published their call for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained attention in the press, with many asking why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding first scepticism, he viewed the idea "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional aspect of their request, and how immature their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already set in".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the elder child had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to repeat itself with their infant.
The intention: To hire a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the start here is kind of osmotic," stated Adam.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they aim to instil.
He noted the tutor had to be somebody who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Money No Object
The family informed him the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "English gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "UK identity", would the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the globally influenced family he lives with regardless?
"Yes", replied he. "The parents understand this might not succeed, but they've just taken the view of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the tutoring industry who have these doubts.
An education leader, chief executive of an educational organization, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
Peter wrote that he had emigrated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the time of seven, and had been brought up understanding and living both cultures. He progressed to study at Cambridge University.
"The notion that one individual can act as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can somehow transfer the attributes of a English gentleman to a 12-month-old child, appears naive and unrealistic," he stated.
"Based on my background, having a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will will not automatically achieve the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and however I have been lucky enough to enjoy several of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He added: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something Adam believes can be taught – and sold.
"I think the reality that the world regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
