"A family based in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and experienced instructor to assist their most junior child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might readily skip the wording "initial stages" as simple a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the most significant element of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to hire a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of submissions have since been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the post has received attention in the press, with several wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that notwithstanding initial skepticism, he considered the plan "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he mentioned they understood the unusual aspect of their request, and how immature their son is.
However, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already taken hold".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", he answered. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told Adam they hoped to prevent the same situation to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To hire a UK tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to guide the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the development at the outset here is rather osmotic," explained the CEO.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they want to instil.
He said the tutor must be an individual who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, the arts and music so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son develop into a "English gentleman" will lead to achievement and create opportunities.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, in spite of all this tutelage in "English culture", would the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the globally influenced family he resides with regardless?
"Certainly", answered Adam. "The parents know this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who have these doubts.
Another CEO, chief executive of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the process of embracing two identities, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had moved from China to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that a single person can act as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can somehow transplant the qualities of a English gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will does not instantly produce the goal they desire.
"I never had such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to enjoy many of the situations they desire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, cultural identity can not be dictated from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam thinks can be educated – and marketed.
"In my view the fact that the international society views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
