"Parents located in North London is looking for an remarkable and skilled tutor to support their smallest child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might readily skip the wording "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
But, it could be the most significant aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it attempts to recruit a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Many of submissions have already been sent in since the unnamed family advertised their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has attracted interest throughout the news, with several asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their search, stated that in spite of initial skepticism, he found the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the unusual nature of their request, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified 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 influence had already become established".
But what did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the elder child had absorbed "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family informed him they did not want the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the development at the start here is kind of acquired indirectly," explained the expert.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to instil.
He explained the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, winter sports, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "UK sophisticate" will bring about success and open doors.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
However, despite all this instruction in "UK identity", could the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the international family he is raised by regardless?
"Absolutely", replied the CEO. "The parents know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who have those reservations.
An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who provides personal educators, wrote that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He wrote that he had relocated from China to the UK at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised knowing and practicing two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The notion that one individual can act as a representation of Britishness, an individual who can possibly transplant the characteristics of a British gentleman to a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly British tutor from infancy will not instantly produce the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to experience several of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, self-identity cannot be forced from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be educated – and sold.
"In my view the situation that the global community regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
