"A household residing in north London wants to find an extraordinary and skilled educator to assist their most junior child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might easily miss the phrase "initial stages" as simple figurative language.
But, it may be the most important aspect of this unusual job advert, as it attempts to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of submissions have now been sent in since the unnamed family posted their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the advert has attracted notice across the press, with many wondering why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that despite first scepticism, he viewed the plan "visionary", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he noted they appreciated the atypical aspect of their request, and how immature their son is.
However, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already set in".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had adopted "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their younger child.
The plan: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is kind of absorbed naturally," said the CEO.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they aim to impart.
Adam noted the tutor needed to be someone who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or passion in equestrian activities, winter sports, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to register the child on a range of classes 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 minds, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he adds.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child adopt so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by anyway?
"Certainly", said the CEO. "The family know this may not work, but they've just taken the view of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the education sector who share similar doubts.
Another CEO, chief executive of an educational organization, who supplies personal educators, stated that "the process of becoming bicultural, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
He explained that he had moved from China to the United Kingdom at the time of seven, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying dual heritages. He continued to study at Cambridge University.
"The notion that an individual can function as a embodiment of UK identity, an individual who can in some way transplant the characteristics of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, seems to me idealistic and impractical," he wrote.
"Based on my background, employing a distinctly English tutor from infancy will does not instantly achieve the goal they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be dictated from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Of course, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be educated – and sold.
"I believe the reality that the international society regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
