"A household residing in north London wants to find an exceptional and skilled tutor to guide their most junior child on his early path to growing into an English gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might naturally skip the term "initial stages" as just an expression.
But, it might be the most significant element of this distinctive employment listing, as it seeks to hire a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have now been submitted since the unidentified family posted their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has received interest throughout the press, with several wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their search, explained that despite first doubt, he found the idea "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they understood the atypical nature of their demand, and how young their son is.
However, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then become established".
But what does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert responded. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to him they wished to avoid the same situation to repeat itself with their infant.
The intention: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the development at the beginning here is rather acquired indirectly," explained the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the British traits they aim to impart.
He noted the tutor needed to be someone who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, alpine skiing, the arts and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of passions.
Furthermore though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son become a "British gentleman" will result in accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
However, despite all this instruction in "UK identity", could the child absorb so-called cultural influence from the international family he resides with in any case?
"Yes", said Adam. "The family understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the education sector who have similar doubts.
An education leader, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
The expert noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the period of 7 years old, and had been raised experiencing and living dual heritages. He progressed to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that one individual can serve as a representation of UK identity, someone who can somehow transplant the characteristics of a UK sophisticate upon a one-year-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly English tutor from early childhood will does not instantly achieve the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and however I have been fortunate enough to live many of the situations they hope for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, personal identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something Adam believes can be instructed – and sold.
"I think the fact that the international society holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
