"Parents located in North London wants to find an extraordinary and skilled tutor to assist their most junior child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might naturally miss the term "beginning" as simple figurative language.
But, it might be the most significant part of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to find a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of submissions have now been received since the anonymous family published their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained interest across the news, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding initial skepticism, he considered the concept "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they appreciated the atypical nature of their request, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already become established".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", he replied. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told him they did not want history to recur with their younger child.
The plan: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to guide the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the education at the outset here is rather osmotic," explained the expert.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will adopt the British traits they wish to cultivate.
He explained the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family informed Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or interest in riding, skiing, the arts and music so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son grow into a "English gentleman" will bring about success and provide access.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he adds.
But, in spite of all this guidance in "English culture", might the child pick up what is termed cultural bias from the international family he resides with regardless?
"Yes", said the CEO. "The family understand this may not work, 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 expense of it is not relevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who share these doubts.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, stated that "the process of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
He explained that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the period of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and practicing dual heritages. He progressed to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a embodiment of English culture, a person who can somehow transfer the attributes of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a typically English tutor from early childhood will does not instantly produce the result they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and however I have been privileged enough to experience several of the experiences they desire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, personal identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Of course, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be taught – and marketed.
"In my view the fact that the international society regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
