"Parents located in North London wants to find an remarkable and skilled educator to assist their smallest child on his early path to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally skip the term "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
But, it may be the most important part of this unusual position posting, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have now been submitted since the unnamed family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has gained notice across the press, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, head and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that in spite of first scepticism, he considered the concept "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional nature of their request, and how early in age their son is.
However, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had by then set in".
But what did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed Adam they did not want history to happen again with their new baby.
The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is kind of osmotic," explained the expert.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to cultivate.
He said the tutor needed to be someone who attended "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should preferably also have familiarity of or passion in equestrian activities, skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he explained the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he notes.
Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", might the child absorb what is termed cultural influence from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", said Adam. "The family know this may not work, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he said.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who share similar reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, commented that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the age of seven, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He progressed to study at Cambridge University.
"The idea that one individual can act as a embodiment of UK identity, a person who can possibly transplant the attributes of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, engaging a distinctly English tutor from babyhood will not instantly achieve the result they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the outside; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, English culture is something the expert hopes can be instructed – and marketed.
"In my view the reality that the global community views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
