"Parents located in the northern part of London seeks an exceptional and skilled educator to guide their most junior child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might readily miss the wording "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the crucial part of this distinctive employment listing, as it aims to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have already been sent in since the unnamed family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained attention in the news, with several wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their hunt, stated that in spite of initial scepticism, he considered the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they recognized the unusual nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had by then taken hold".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam replied. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family told the consultant they wished to avoid this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The strategy: To bring in a UK tutor, who must speak with RP, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the development at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," stated the CEO.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to impart.
Adam said the tutor had to be somebody who attended "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family told the expert the chosen tutor should preferably also have familiarity of or passion in equestrian activities, winter sports, creative fields and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "British gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, despite all this tutelage in "English culture", would the child pick up what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by in any case?
"Absolutely", replied Adam. "They know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he said.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the tutoring industry who share similar reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of an educational organization, who also offer individual instructors, stated that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He explained that he had moved from the Far East to the Britain at the period of childhood, and had been raised knowing and embodying dual heritages. He went on to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that one individual can act as a representation of English culture, a person who can somehow transfer the qualities of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he stated.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from infancy will will not automatically create the result they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and however I have been privileged enough to enjoy many of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, self-identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and sold.
"In my view the fact that the world holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
