"A household located in North London is looking for an extraordinary and skilled tutor to guide their smallest child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might naturally skip the wording "beginning" as mere figurative language.
However, it may be the most important element of this distinctive position posting, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Many of responses have now been sent in since the anonymous family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained notice across the news, with several wondering why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their quest, said that notwithstanding initial scepticism, he found the idea "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he said they recognized the unconventional aspect of their requirement, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", the expert answered. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had absorbed "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent the same situation to repeat itself with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the development at the outset here is rather acquired indirectly," stated the CEO.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to instil.
He explained the tutor had to be someone who went to "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in riding, winter sports, the arts and music so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Additionally though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son develop into a "British gentleman" will result in success and create opportunities.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this instruction in "English culture", would the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he resides with regardless?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "They understand this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he explained.
Impractical
There are some in the private teaching field who have similar reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, commented that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had relocated from Asia to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been raised knowing and living two backgrounds. He went on to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that one individual can function as a embodiment of Britishness, an individual who can possibly transplant the attributes of a British gentleman to a infant child, appears optimistic and impractical," he wrote.
"In my experience, engaging a typically English tutor from infancy will not necessarily produce the goal they desire.
"I never had such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live many of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity can not be dictated from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be taught – and sold.
"I think the situation that the global community views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
