"A household located in the northern part of London seeks an remarkable and experienced tutor to guide their youngest child on his early path to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily skip the wording "initial stages" as simple figurative language.
But, it might be the most significant part of this distinctive job advert, as it seeks to hire a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Many of applications have since 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 listing has gained notice throughout the news, with several wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their hunt, stated that notwithstanding initial scepticism, he found the concept "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he noted they appreciated the unusual nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
But, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then taken hold".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert answered. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the elder child had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their infant.
The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the development at the beginning here is somewhat osmotic," stated Adam.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they wish to cultivate.
Adam noted the tutor had to be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Money No Object
The family informed him the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in equestrian activities, winter sports, artistic pursuits and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of interests.
Additionally though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he adds.
Yet, notwithstanding all this instruction in "English culture", would the child adopt alleged cultural influence from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "They understand this might not succeed, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the tutoring industry who share these reservations.
Peter Cui, head and founder of an educational organization, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
Peter explained that he had moved from China to the United Kingdom at the time of seven, and had been brought up understanding and embodying dual heritages. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that one individual can serve as a representation of English culture, an individual who can somehow impart the qualities of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, seems to me naive and unrealistic," he stated.
"In my experience, engaging a typically British tutor from early childhood will not automatically achieve the outcome they want.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to live several of the situations they desire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, self-identity can not be forced from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, Britishness is something the expert believes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the fact that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
