"A household located in North London is looking for an extraordinary and qualified tutor to guide their most junior child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally skip the phrase "beginning" as simple figurative language.
Yet, it could be the crucial element of this unusual job advert, as it seeks to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Many of submissions have since been submitted since the unidentified family posted their request for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the advert has received attention across the media, with many questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that despite initial skepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they appreciated the atypical aspect of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
But, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
But what did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He said the older sibling had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family informed him they did not want history to recur with their younger child.
The intention: To bring in a English tutor, who should speak with RP, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the development at the beginning here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will acquire the British traits they aim to impart.
The consultant explained the tutor must be somebody who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed Adam the chosen tutor should preferably also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Furthermore though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son grow into a "British gentleman" will result in success and open doors.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
But, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", could the child pick up what is termed cultural influence from the international family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "They understand this may not work, but they've just taken the view of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the education sector who express these reservations.
An education leader, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, commented that "the process of becoming bicultural, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
The expert noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been brought up knowing and practicing two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The idea that one individual can act as a living vessel of English culture, someone who can in some way transfer the qualities of a English gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he commented.
"Based on my background, employing a distinctly English tutor from infancy will will not instantly create the result they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience several of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, English culture is something the CEO thinks can be taught – and marketed.
"I think the situation that the international society views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
