"A household residing in the northern part of London seeks an exceptional and skilled tutor to support their youngest child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might readily miss the wording "initial stages" as just figurative language.
But, it could be the crucial part of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have already been received since the unnamed family posted their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the post has attracted notice in the news, with many asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, stated that despite first doubt, he viewed the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he mentioned they understood the atypical nature of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
However, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then set in".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the older sibling had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to him they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a British tutor, who should speak with RP, to influence the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the education at the beginning here is rather absorbed naturally," stated the CEO.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they want to instil.
He noted the tutor needed to be someone who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in riding, alpine skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of interests.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he adds.
But, notwithstanding all this instruction in "Britishness", might the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the international family he is raised by anyway?
"Absolutely", replied the CEO. "They realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the private teaching field who express those concerns.
An education leader, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who provides private tutors, stated that "the process of becoming bicultural, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
The expert explained that he had relocated from China to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been raised understanding and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a living vessel of English culture, someone who can somehow transplant the attributes of a British gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"In my experience, having a quintessentially UK tutor from infancy will does not necessarily produce the goal they hope for.
"I did not have such a tutor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to experience numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, self-identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, English culture is something Adam believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
