"A family based in North London seeks an extraordinary and experienced tutor to assist their youngest child on his early path to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally miss the wording "beginning" as mere an expression.
Yet, it could be the crucial aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it seeks to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have already been submitted since the unidentified family published their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted attention throughout the media, with numerous wondering why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that in spite of first scepticism, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he noted they appreciated the unconventional nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already set in".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", he replied. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the older sibling had absorbed "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family informed him they did not want history to happen again with their new baby.
The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the development at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they wish to instil.
Adam said the tutor had to be someone who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a wide range of passions.
Furthermore though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son grow into a "British gentleman" will bring about achievement and provide access.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "UK identity", could the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the international family he lives with in any case?
"Yes", said the CEO. "The family know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as early as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he said.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who express similar doubts.
Peter Cui, head and founder of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, stated that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter wrote that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated understanding and embodying both cultures. He went on to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can function as a living vessel of English culture, someone who can in some way transfer the characteristics of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and impractical," he wrote.
"In my experience, engaging a typically UK tutor from infancy will does not automatically produce the goal they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to enjoy many of the situations they hope for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, self-identity cannot be forced from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something Adam thinks can be instructed – and marketed.
"I think the fact that the international society holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
