"Parents located in North London seeks an exceptional and skilled tutor to guide their most junior child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might readily overlook the wording "beginning" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the most significant part of this unique job advert, as it seeks to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have since been received since the unidentified family published their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received interest throughout the news, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding first doubt, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unusual nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already set in".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", the expert answered. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He said the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their infant.
The plan: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," stated the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they wish to instil.
The consultant said the tutor must be an individual who attended "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son grow into a "English gentleman" will bring about success and open doors.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he adds.
But, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "UK identity", might the child adopt alleged cultural leaning from the international family he resides with regardless?
"Certainly", said he. "The parents know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he explained.
Impractical
A number of in the private teaching field who have similar reservations.
An education leader, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been educated knowing and practicing dual heritages. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that one individual can function as a living vessel of Britishness, a person who can in some way transfer the qualities of a English gentleman to a 12-month-old child, appears optimistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"Based on my background, engaging a quintessentially British tutor from babyhood will not instantly create the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and however I have been lucky enough to live several of the situations they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, cultural identity should not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I believe the situation that the international society holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
