"A family located in North London wants to find an exceptional and experienced tutor to assist their youngest child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might easily overlook the wording "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the most significant aspect of this distinctive position posting, as it seeks to hire a teacher for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have now been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has received notice throughout the media, with numerous asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, said that despite initial skepticism, he viewed the concept "visionary", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they appreciated the unconventional nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then become established".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the development at the outset here is somewhat acquired indirectly," explained Adam.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be an individual who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in riding, skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he adds.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "UK identity", would the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the international family he lives with regardless?
"Absolutely", replied Adam. "The family know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the education sector who have these concerns.
Peter Cui, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
He noted that he had emigrated from China to the United Kingdom at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised knowing and practicing both cultures. He progressed to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can function as a representation of Britishness, a person who can possibly transplant the qualities of a UK sophisticate onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, employing a distinctly English tutor from babyhood will will not automatically achieve the result they desire.
"I never had such a figure, and yet I have been privileged enough to live several of the experiences they hope for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, self-identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the CEO hopes can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the situation that the world regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
