"Parents residing in the northern part of London is looking for an extraordinary and experienced educator to assist their most junior child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally miss the phrase "beginning" as simple figurative language.
But, it might be the most significant aspect of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to find a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of applications have already been sent in since the unnamed family posted their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the listing has received notice across the press, with many questioning why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that in spite of early scepticism, he found the idea "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they recognized the unusual aspect of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already become established".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam answered. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the older sibling had absorbed "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they did not want the same situation to repeat itself with their infant.
The intention: To hire a British tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the start here is somewhat acquired indirectly," stated Adam.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they wish to cultivate.
Adam explained the tutor must be an individual who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told him the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a wide range of interests.
Additionally though, he said the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a variety of lessons 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, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will result in achievement and open doors.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he adds.
Yet, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", might the child pick up alleged cultural influence from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Yes", replied he. "The parents realize this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the private teaching field who express these doubts.
An education leader, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides personal educators, commented that "the process of becoming bicultural, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
He wrote that he had emigrated from China to the Britain at the age of seven, and had been brought up knowing and living both cultures. He continued to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The concept that a single person can act as a living vessel of English culture, an individual who can in some way impart the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and unfeasible," he stated.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly British tutor from babyhood will not necessarily achieve the goal they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been privileged enough to enjoy several of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He added: "The fact is, self-identity should not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam thinks can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I believe the fact that the international society views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating