"A family located in North London is looking for an remarkable and experienced instructor to assist their smallest child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might naturally miss the term "beginning" as simple a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the most significant element of this distinctive position posting, as it seeks to recruit a tutor for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have already been sent in since the anonymous family advertised their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the listing has received notice throughout the press, with many asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that notwithstanding early scepticism, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional character of their requirement, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent the same situation to recur with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," said the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they wish to cultivate.
The consultant said the tutor needed to be someone who attended "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, creative fields and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of passions.
Furthermore though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and create opportunities.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he comments.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child absorb what is termed cultural influence from the globally influenced family he resides with regardless?
"Yes", replied Adam. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the private teaching field who express similar concerns.
An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, commented that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
The expert wrote that he had relocated from the Far East to the Britain at the age of seven, and had been raised knowing and practicing dual heritages. He went on to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that a single person can function as a embodiment of UK identity, an individual who can in some way transfer the qualities of a English gentleman to a infant child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"Based on my background, having a distinctly English tutor from infancy will will not automatically produce the result they want.
"I did not have such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live several of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He added: "The fact is, cultural identity can not be forced from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Of course, Britishness is something the expert hopes can be taught – and sold.
"I think the situation that the world views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
