"A family located in north London seeks an extraordinary and qualified educator to assist their most junior child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might readily miss the phrase "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it may be the most significant part of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of responses have already been submitted since the anonymous family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the advert has received attention throughout the news, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding early skepticism, he found the idea "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the atypical nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.
But, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the older sibling had adopted "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family informed the consultant they wished to avoid this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the learning at the start here is kind of acquired indirectly," said Adam.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will acquire the British traits they wish to cultivate.
Adam noted the tutor must be someone who studied at "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator must be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to him the selected educator should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in equestrian activities, winter sports, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of hobbies.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will bring about achievement and provide access.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", might the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the globally influenced family he is raised by anyway?
"Certainly", said he. "The family realize this may not work, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he stated.
Impractical
A number of in the tutoring industry who express similar concerns.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides personal educators, commented that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
The expert explained that he had moved from China to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and practicing two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that an individual can serve as a representation of Britishness, a person who can possibly transplant the attributes of a English gentleman to a 12-month-old child, seems to me naive and unfeasible," he wrote.
"In my experience, engaging a typically UK tutor from early childhood will not necessarily create the goal they hope for.
"I did not have such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to enjoy several of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, personal identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, English culture is something Adam thinks can be taught – and marketed.
"I think the reality that the international society views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
