"Parents based in the northern part of London seeks an remarkable and skilled tutor to guide their most junior child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might readily skip the term "initial stages" as simple an expression.
But, it could be the most significant element of this unique employment listing, as it seeks to recruit a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have since been received since the anonymous family advertised their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has attracted notice throughout the press, with many asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their search, explained that despite initial doubt, he considered the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unusual aspect of their request, and how early in age their son is.
But, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already set in".
But what does the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the elder child had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family informed him they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their new baby.
The plan: To hire a British tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the development at the outset here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said Adam.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor needed to be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told him the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or passion in equestrian activities, skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a range of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and create opportunities.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he comments.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "UK identity", would the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the international family he resides with regardless?
"Absolutely", replied the CEO. "The parents realize this may not work, but they've just taken 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 said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who express similar doubts.
An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who supplies personal educators, commented that "the process of becoming bicultural, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He explained that he had relocated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been educated experiencing and practicing dual heritages. He went on to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that a single person can serve as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can possibly transfer the characteristics of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, seems to me idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a quintessentially UK tutor from early childhood will will not necessarily produce the result they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, self-identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the fact that the world holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
