"Parents based in north London is looking for an remarkable and qualified educator to assist their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might naturally overlook the phrase "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the most significant aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to recruit a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have since been sent in since the unidentified family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has received notice in the news, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, chief executive of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their hunt, said that despite early scepticism, he viewed the idea "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they understood the unconventional nature of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already set in".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He explained the elder child had adopted "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family informed him they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their infant.
The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the learning at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will acquire the English characteristics they want to cultivate.
He said the tutor needed to be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Money No Object
The family informed Adam the successful candidate should preferably also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son become a "UK sophisticate" will bring about success and create opportunities.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "UK identity", could the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the international family he is raised by regardless?
"Absolutely", said the CEO. "They understand this may not work, but they've just taken the view of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as early as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who share similar concerns.
An education leader, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies individual instructors, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
Peter explained that he had moved from the Far East to the UK at the time of seven, and had been educated knowing and practicing two backgrounds. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The notion that one individual can function as a living vessel of UK identity, a person who can in some way transplant the qualities of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"From my perspective, having a typically British tutor from babyhood will does not instantly create the result they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, English culture is something Adam thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"In my view the situation that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
