"Parents based in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and qualified instructor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might easily skip the phrase "initial stages" as simple figurative language.
However, it might be the most significant element of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have since been sent in since the anonymous family published their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained attention in the news, with numerous asking why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their hunt, explained that notwithstanding initial doubt, he found the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the unusual character of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam replied. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family explained to him they wished to avoid this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the education at the outset here is kind of osmotic," said the CEO.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will acquire the British traits they wish to instil.
He explained the tutor needed to be somebody who studied at "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator must be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he adds.
But, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child adopt so-called cultural leaning from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", replied the CEO. "The family understand this may not work, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he stated.
Impractical
Several in the tutoring industry who have similar concerns.
An education leader, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides personal educators, commented that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
The expert explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of childhood, and had been educated knowing and living two backgrounds. He progressed to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can function as a living vessel of Britishness, an individual who can somehow transplant the attributes of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, appears idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will does not instantly achieve the result they want.
"I never had such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, personal identity can not be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"In my view the fact that the international society holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
