"A family based in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and experienced instructor to support their smallest child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily miss the phrase "beginning" as mere an expression.
Yet, it could be the most significant element of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to find a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have already been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained interest throughout the media, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their search, said that notwithstanding first scepticism, he considered the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he mentioned they understood the atypical nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed Adam they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To engage a UK tutor, who should speak with RP, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," stated Adam.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will adopt the UK customs they aim to instil.
Adam explained the tutor had to be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or interest in riding, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a diverse set of passions.
Furthermore though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will lead to achievement and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
But, despite all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the international family he is raised by regardless?
"Certainly", said he. "They know this could fail, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who express those concerns.
An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who supplies individual instructors, stated that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He explained that he had emigrated from China to the Britain at the period of childhood, and had been brought up understanding and embodying both cultures. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The notion that a single person can act as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can in some way transfer the characteristics of a English gentleman onto a infant child, seems to me idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"In my experience, employing a typically British tutor from infancy will does not automatically create the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and however I have been privileged enough to enjoy several of the experiences they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, self-identity should not be dictated from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the situation that the world holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
