"A household located in North London is looking for an exceptional and experienced instructor to guide their youngest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might easily overlook the wording "beginning" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it could be the most important aspect of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of responses have now been sent in since the unnamed family posted their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has attracted interest across the news, with several wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, head and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that notwithstanding initial doubt, he found the plan "visionary", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they recognized the unconventional nature of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
However, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had by then taken hold".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the elder child had picked up "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed him they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a UK tutor, who must speak with RP, to guide the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the education at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," said the CEO.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the UK customs they want to impart.
He said the tutor had to be someone who attended "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or interest in riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a wide range of interests.
Additionally though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he notes.
However, in spite of all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child absorb what is termed cultural influence from the multicultural family he is raised by anyway?
"Yes", answered he. "They know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he said.
Impractical
There are some in the private teaching field who express these reservations.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies private tutors, commented that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
He explained that he had moved from Asia to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated experiencing and embodying both cultures. He continued to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that one individual can serve as a representation of Britishness, an individual who can possibly transplant the attributes of a English gentleman upon a infant child, strikes me as optimistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly English tutor from babyhood will not instantly create the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to live several of the situations they hope for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity can not be forced from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, UK identity is something Adam thinks can be taught – and sold.
"I think the situation that the global community holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
