"A family located in the northern part of London wants to find an extraordinary and experienced instructor to assist their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily skip the term "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.
But, it may be the most important element of this distinctive position posting, as it seeks to recruit a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have since been received since the unnamed family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the post has received attention throughout the press, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their search, explained that despite first skepticism, he considered the plan "visionary", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.
But, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", he responded. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family informed him they did not want history to recur with their infant.
The intention: To hire a English tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the learning at the outset here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said Adam.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they want to instil.
He said the tutor had to be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out 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, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to achievement and provide access.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he adds.
But, despite all this tutelage in "Britishness", could the child absorb so-called cultural influence from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Certainly", answered he. "The parents know this may not work, but they've just taken the view of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the education sector who share similar reservations.
Peter Cui, head and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies individual instructors, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
He explained that he had relocated from the Far East to the Britain at the time of childhood, and had been raised knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to study at Cambridge University.
"The notion that a single person can serve as a embodiment of Britishness, a person who can somehow impart the characteristics of a British gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, seems to me idealistic and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially UK tutor from infancy will does not necessarily produce the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to live many of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, personal identity can not be dictated from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, Britishness is something Adam thinks can be taught – and commercialized.
"I think the fact that the international society regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
