"Parents residing in North London wants to find an extraordinary and skilled educator to guide their most junior child on his initial journey to growing into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might naturally skip the term "initial stages" as just figurative language.
However, it may be the crucial part of this unusual position posting, as it aims to find a mentor for a one-year-old.
Many of applications have since been sent in since the unidentified family published their search for the highly paid tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the advert has gained notice throughout the news, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their search, explained that in spite of early scepticism, he viewed the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they understood the unusual aspect of their demand, and how young their son is.
But, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
But what does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam answered. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He said the older sibling had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed him they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their infant.
The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the education at the start here is rather acquired indirectly," stated Adam.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they want to cultivate.
He said the tutor had to be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to him the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in horse riding, alpine skiing, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, notwithstanding all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child adopt what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Absolutely", said he. "The parents realize this may not work, but they've just taken the view of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the tutoring industry who share those reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of a tutoring service, who supplies personal educators, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
He wrote that he had emigrated from Asia to the UK at the age of seven, and had been educated experiencing and practicing dual heritages. He continued to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that a single person can function as a representation of UK identity, a person who can somehow transplant the characteristics of a British gentleman onto a infant child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially British tutor from babyhood will not necessarily achieve the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience many of the experiences they hope for their son."
He added: "The reality is, self-identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"In my view the situation that the international society views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
