"A household residing in North London wants to find an extraordinary and skilled tutor to guide their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might readily skip the phrase "beginning" as just a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the most significant element of this unique position posting, as it attempts to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of applications have since been submitted since the anonymous family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted notice throughout the news, with many asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their search, said that despite first doubt, he found the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", he replied. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid history to repeat itself with their infant.
The strategy: To hire a UK tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the education at the start here is somewhat acquired indirectly," stated the CEO.
It's through this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will acquire the British traits they aim to impart.
He explained the tutor must be somebody who studied at "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or interest in horse riding, skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son grow into a "British gentleman" will result in accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he adds.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "English culture", could the child pick up what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", answered Adam. "The family understand this may not work, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he said.
Impractical
Several in the tutoring industry who have similar reservations.
Peter Cui, head and founder of an educational organization, who supplies personal educators, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
The expert noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the period of seven, and had been educated understanding and living dual heritages. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that one individual can act as a living vessel of Britishness, a person who can in some way impart the attributes of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, strikes me as naive and unfeasible," he stated.
"In my experience, engaging a quintessentially UK tutor from early childhood will not instantly create the result they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and however I have been privileged enough to experience numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity should not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, English culture is something Adam believes can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the international society holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
