"A family based in north London is looking for an exceptional and experienced educator to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might easily skip the term "initial stages" as simple an expression.
However, it might be the most significant aspect of this unusual position posting, as it aims to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have already been submitted since the unnamed family published their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has received attention throughout the press, with many wondering why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their hunt, said that in spite of initial doubt, he viewed the concept "visionary", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he said they recognized the unconventional nature of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
However, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", he answered. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to him they hoped to prevent history to recur with their younger child.
The plan: To hire a British tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the learning at the outset here is kind of osmotic," explained Adam.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will pick up the UK customs they wish to instil.
The consultant noted the tutor must be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or passion in equestrian activities, winter sports, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a wide range of passions.
Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will result in achievement and open doors.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
But, in spite of all this guidance in "English culture", might the child adopt so-called cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he lives with in any case?
"Yes", answered Adam. "They know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the education sector who express those doubts.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
He noted that he had emigrated from Asia to the UK at the time of seven, and had been educated experiencing and embodying dual heritages. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that a single person can act as a representation of Britishness, an individual who can in some way transplant the attributes of a British gentleman to a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"Based on my background, having a typically UK tutor from early childhood will does not necessarily achieve the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy many of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, personal identity should not be dictated from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, UK identity is something Adam believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the world holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
