"A household located in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and qualified instructor to support their most junior child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might easily overlook the wording "initial stages" as mere a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the most significant part of this distinctive position posting, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of submissions have already been sent in since the anonymous family posted their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the post has received interest across the press, with several wondering why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their search, said that notwithstanding early scepticism, he viewed the concept "visionary", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he said they understood the atypical nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the older sibling had absorbed "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they did not want history to happen again with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the learning at the outset here is kind of osmotic," said the expert.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will acquire the UK customs they want to impart.
Adam said the tutor needed to be somebody who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to him the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in horse riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to achievement and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he comments.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", could the child adopt alleged cultural influence from the international family he resides with in any case?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "They understand this could fail, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as early as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who express these doubts.
Another CEO, chief executive of a tutoring service, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had relocated from China to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been educated understanding and embodying two backgrounds. He went on to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that one individual can function as a living vessel of English culture, an individual who can somehow transfer the characteristics of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, strikes me as idealistic and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly UK tutor from infancy will not automatically create the result they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to live many of the situations they hope for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something the expert thinks can be taught – and commercialized.
"In my view the reality that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
