"A household residing in north London is looking for an remarkable and skilled educator to support their smallest child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might naturally miss the term "beginning" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it might be the most important element of this distinctive job advert, as it aims to hire a teacher for a infant.
Numerous of submissions have since been sent in since the unnamed family posted their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained interest throughout the media, with many questioning why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their hunt, said that despite initial skepticism, he viewed the idea "visionary", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional character of their requirement, and how young their son is.
However, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then become established".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", he replied. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told Adam they wished to avoid history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To engage a UK tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the start here is rather osmotic," explained the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the UK customs they wish to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor must be an individual who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed the expert the successful candidate should preferably also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
Additionally though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son grow into a "English gentleman" will lead to success and create opportunities.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
But, despite all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Absolutely", said Adam. "The parents understand this could fail, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the tutoring industry who have similar doubts.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer private tutors, stated that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
The expert explained that he had moved from the Far East to the Britain at the age of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that a single person can function as a representation of English culture, a person who can somehow impart the characteristics of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, appears naive and unrealistic," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a typically British tutor from early childhood will will not automatically achieve the outcome they desire.
"I never had such a tutor, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience many of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, cultural identity can not be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something Adam thinks can be instructed – and marketed.
"In my view the reality that the global community holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
