"A family residing in the northern part of London wants to find an exceptional and qualified tutor to support their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might readily miss the term "initial stages" as simple figurative language.
But, it may be the most significant element of this unique employment listing, as it seeks to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have now been received since the anonymous family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted interest in the news, with several wondering why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their search, said that in spite of first scepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional aspect of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the firstborn had picked up "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a UK tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is kind of acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to instil.
He explained the tutor needed to be an individual who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the successful candidate should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son become a "UK sophisticate" will result in success and provide access.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
However, despite all this instruction in "English culture", would the child adopt what is termed cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by regardless?
"Absolutely", said he. "The family know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as early as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Impractical
Several in the tutoring industry who have similar reservations.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer personal educators, stated that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the period of seven, and had been educated understanding and embodying both cultures. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that a single person can function as a embodiment of English culture, an individual who can in some way transplant the attributes of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as naive and unfeasible," he wrote.
"In my experience, engaging a quintessentially UK tutor from infancy will does not necessarily produce the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and marketed.
"In my view the reality that the world holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
