"A household located in North London wants to find an remarkable and qualified educator to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might readily skip the term "initial stages" as simple a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the most significant element of this unique job advert, as it attempts to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of submissions have since been submitted since the unnamed family posted their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the advert has received attention in the press, with several asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, said that despite first scepticism, he found the idea "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he noted they recognized the unusual aspect of their requirement, and how young their son is.
However, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already set in".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", Adam responded. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He explained the older sibling had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family explained to him they wished to avoid history to recur with their infant.
The intention: To hire a English tutor, who must speak with RP, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the education at the start here is somewhat osmotic," explained the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to instil.
He explained the tutor needed to be someone who went to "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should preferably also have understanding of or passion in riding, skiing, the arts and music so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about success and open doors.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he comments.
However, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "English culture", might the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by regardless?
"Absolutely", said he. "The parents understand this might not succeed, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who share similar concerns.
Another CEO, chief executive of Blue Education, who provides personal educators, stated that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had moved from China to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been raised knowing and practicing dual heritages. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can act as a representation of UK identity, someone who can possibly transplant the qualities of a British gentleman onto a infant child, appears idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"In my experience, engaging a typically English tutor from infancy will does not necessarily produce the outcome they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and however I have been privileged enough to experience several of the situations they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, self-identity should not be forced from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be taught – and marketed.
"I think the situation that the global community views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
