"A household located in North London is looking for an exceptional and skilled instructor to assist their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might easily miss the term "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the crucial element of this unique position posting, as it aims to find a teacher for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have now been submitted since the unidentified family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has attracted attention throughout the media, with many wondering why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, head and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that despite initial skepticism, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they understood the unusual aspect of their demand, and how immature their son is.
But, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already become established".
But what did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert responded. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the elder child had adopted "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid history to recur with their younger child.
The intention: To hire a British tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the learning at the start here is somewhat acquired indirectly," explained Adam.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the English characteristics they want to instil.
The consultant explained the tutor needed to be someone who studied at "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Money No Object
The family informed Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or passion in riding, winter sports, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will bring about success and provide access.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he comments.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "Britishness", might the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Absolutely", replied Adam. "The parents understand this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the private teaching field who express these concerns.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, stated that "the process of embracing two identities, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
Peter explained that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been brought up knowing and living both cultures. He continued to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that a single person can function as a living vessel of UK identity, an individual who can in some way transplant the characteristics of a UK sophisticate onto a infant child, seems to me naive and unfeasible," he commented.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly British tutor from infancy will not automatically create the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and however I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the situations they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity can not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be instructed – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the world holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
