"A household based in North London is looking for an extraordinary and qualified instructor to guide their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might readily miss the phrase "initial stages" as mere an expression.
But, it could be the most important part of this unique position posting, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of submissions have since been submitted since the unidentified family published their request for the highly paid tutor, who must be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained interest across the press, with numerous asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their hunt, stated that in spite of initial scepticism, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical nature of their request, and how immature their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already become established".
But what does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", the expert answered. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family informed the consultant they wished to avoid this pattern to recur with their infant.
The intention: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the development at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," explained the CEO.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will pick up the English characteristics they aim to instil.
The consultant said the tutor needed to be an individual who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told him the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, winter sports, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to influence the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Additionally though, he said the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son become a "UK sophisticate" will bring about success and create opportunities.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.
However, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "Britishness", could the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", replied he. "The family know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the tutoring industry who express those doubts.
An education leader, head and founder of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, stated that "the process of becoming bicultural, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He wrote that he had relocated from Asia to the Britain at the period of childhood, and had been raised knowing and practicing two backgrounds. He progressed to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that one individual can act as a living vessel of English culture, an individual who can somehow impart the attributes of a UK sophisticate onto a infant child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a typically British tutor from babyhood will does not instantly create the goal they want.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to enjoy numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, personal identity can not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, Britishness is something Adam thinks can be instructed – and commercialized.
"In my view the situation that the global community holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
