"A household residing in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and skilled instructor to guide their smallest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might easily overlook the wording "first-steps" as just figurative language.
Yet, it could be the most important element of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to find a tutor for a infant.
Many of submissions have now been submitted since the unnamed family posted their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the post has gained notice across the media, with numerous asking why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that despite early doubt, he viewed the plan "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he said they recognized the atypical nature of their request, and how young their son is.
However, they stated 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 conditioning had by then taken hold".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", the expert answered. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He explained the firstborn had adopted "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family explained to the consultant they did not want history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The strategy: To engage a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the education at the start here is kind of acquired indirectly," stated Adam.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will acquire the English characteristics they want to instil.
He explained the tutor must be someone who attended "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in riding, skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Additionally though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son grow into a "British gentleman" will result in success and create opportunities.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "Britishness", could the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by regardless?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "The parents realize this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as early as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Impractical
A number of in the private teaching field who have those concerns.
An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides private tutors, stated that "the process of embracing two identities, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
The expert explained that he had relocated from Asia to the UK at the time of seven, and had been raised experiencing and living dual heritages. He went on to learn at Cambridge University.
"The notion that an individual can function as a embodiment of UK identity, someone who can possibly transplant the attributes of a English gentleman onto a infant child, appears idealistic and impractical," he stated.
"In my experience, having a distinctly English tutor from infancy will will not instantly create the result they hope for.
"I never had such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the situations they hope for their son."
He added: "The reality is, self-identity should not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Of course, UK identity is something Adam believes can be taught – and sold.
"I believe the reality that the global community regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
