"A family based in north London seeks an extraordinary and skilled instructor to guide their most junior child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might readily skip the phrase "initial stages" as simple an expression.
However, it may be the most important element of this unique job advert, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have now been received since the unnamed family posted their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted notice across the news, with many asking why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding first skepticism, he viewed the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he noted they appreciated the unconventional nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.
But, they explained 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 influence had by then taken hold".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", Adam replied. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family informed him they did not want the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The plan: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the development at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will adopt the English characteristics they want to impart.
He explained the tutor had to be someone who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in riding, skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will result in accomplishment and create opportunities.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this instruction in "Britishness", might the child adopt what is termed cultural influence from the multicultural family he is raised by regardless?
"Yes", replied the CEO. "They understand this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the education sector who express those concerns.
Another CEO, chief executive of a tutoring service, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the process of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
Peter wrote that he had relocated from Asia to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been educated knowing and practicing dual heritages. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The notion that a single person can act as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can in some way impart the qualities of a British gentleman onto a infant child, appears idealistic and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly UK tutor from infancy will will not automatically create the outcome they hope for.
"I never had such a figure, and however I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, personal identity can not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, English culture is something Adam believes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"In my view the reality that the global community views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
