"A household located in the northern part of London seeks an exceptional and experienced tutor to guide their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might readily miss the wording "initial stages" as simple a turn of phrase.
But, it may be the most significant part of this distinctive job advert, as it attempts to find a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of responses have since been submitted since the anonymous family posted their request for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the advert has gained interest across the press, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that notwithstanding early skepticism, he viewed the plan "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they appreciated the atypical character of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already become established".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", the expert responded. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had absorbed "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family explained to him they did not want the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the development at the outset here is rather absorbed naturally," stated Adam.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.
Adam said the tutor must be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Money No Object
The family informed him the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in equestrian activities, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will result in success and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
However, despite all this tutelage in "UK identity", might the child pick up what is termed cultural bias from the international family he is raised by in any case?
"Yes", said he. "The family know this could fail, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the education sector who express these reservations.
An education leader, chief executive of Blue Education, who also offer private tutors, stated that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
Peter explained that he had moved from the Far East to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been brought up knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He progressed to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that one individual can act as a representation of UK identity, someone who can possibly impart the qualities of a UK sophisticate onto a infant child, appears optimistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will does not necessarily produce the result they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity should not be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, Britishness is something the expert believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the world regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
