"A family located in North London seeks an exceptional and qualified tutor to guide their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the phrase "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.
Yet, it might be the most significant element of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to recruit a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of responses have already been received since the unnamed family posted their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the listing has attracted interest across the news, with several asking why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their hunt, said that notwithstanding early doubt, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they appreciated the unconventional aspect of their demand, and how immature their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already become established".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam answered. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the development at the start here is kind of absorbed naturally," stated the CEO.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will pick up the UK customs they wish to instil.
Adam said the tutor must be someone who attended "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a wide range of passions.
More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will lead to achievement and provide access.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
Yet, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "Britishness", could the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Yes", replied Adam. "They understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who have similar reservations.
An education leader, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter explained that he had emigrated from Asia to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been educated understanding and living both cultures. He went on to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that an individual can function as a living vessel of Britishness, an individual who can in some way impart the attributes of a English gentleman to a 12-month-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"In my experience, engaging a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will does not necessarily achieve the outcome they desire.
"I never had such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to live several of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity should not be dictated from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I think the situation that the global community regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
