"A family based in the northern part of London seeks an exceptional and skilled instructor to support their smallest child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might naturally overlook the term "initial stages" as simple an expression.
Yet, it could be the most important element of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have now been received since the anonymous family published their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the advert has attracted interest in the news, with many asking why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their search, said that despite initial scepticism, he found the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he mentioned they understood the atypical nature of their request, and how immature their son is.
However, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He said the firstborn had adopted "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they wished to avoid history to happen again with their younger child.
The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is rather absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to instil.
Adam noted the tutor needed to be an individual who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs 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 told the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a diverse set of passions.
Furthermore though, he explained the family desired the tutor to register the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about success and provide access.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
However, despite all this instruction in "UK identity", could the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Absolutely", answered he. "The parents know this may not work, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the private teaching field who share similar concerns.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies private tutors, stated that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert noted that he had moved from the Far East to the Britain at the age of childhood, and had been raised knowing and embodying dual heritages. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that an individual can function as a representation of Britishness, someone who can possibly impart the qualities of a English gentleman onto a infant child, strikes me as naive and unfeasible," he stated.
"In my experience, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will does not necessarily create the result they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been privileged enough to experience numerous of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, personal identity can not be imposed from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Of course, UK identity is something Adam believes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the global community regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
