"A family based in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and skilled instructor to support their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might easily skip the phrase "initial stages" as mere an expression.
Yet, it might be the crucial part of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to recruit a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have since been sent in since the anonymous family posted their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has received interest throughout the news, with many wondering why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their hunt, stated that in spite of first doubt, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional nature of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had by then set in".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", he replied. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He explained the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family explained to the consultant they did not want this pattern to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To hire a UK tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," explained the expert.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.
Adam explained the tutor needed to be an individual who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
More than that though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he comments.
But, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "Britishness", could the child pick up alleged cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with regardless?
"Yes", answered Adam. "They know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who express those doubts.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
He explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the age of 7 years old, and had been raised understanding and embodying dual heritages. He went on to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that an individual can function as a living vessel of UK identity, an individual who can in some way impart the qualities of a UK sophisticate to a infant child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he stated.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly British tutor from early childhood will not necessarily produce the result they desire.
"I did not have such a tutor, and however I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, self-identity cannot be dictated from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, Britishness is something Adam believes can be instructed – and sold.
"I think the reality that the world views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
