"A family located in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and skilled educator to support their most junior child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might easily skip the phrase "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the most important aspect of this distinctive position posting, as it seeks to hire a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have since been sent in since the anonymous family posted their request for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted interest throughout the news, with several questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their hunt, explained that in spite of early skepticism, he found the plan "visionary", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they understood the atypical character of their demand, and how immature their son is.
However, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then become established".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", he responded. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the firstborn had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family informed him they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a British tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the learning at the beginning here is somewhat absorbed naturally," explained the CEO.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they want to instil.
He said the tutor must be somebody who went to "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he said the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "UK sophisticate" will result in achievement and provide access.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.
However, in spite of all this instruction in "Britishness", would the child absorb what is termed cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?
"Absolutely", said Adam. "They understand this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'we should try and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Impractical
There are some in the education sector who express these doubts.
An education leader, chief executive of an educational organization, who also offer private tutors, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
The expert noted that he had emigrated from China to the UK at the time of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that an individual can serve as a representation of Britishness, someone who can possibly transplant the characteristics of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and impractical," he stated.
"Based on my background, employing a quintessentially English tutor from infancy will not instantly achieve the result they want.
"I did not have such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to enjoy many of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, personal identity should not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, English culture is something the expert hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I believe the situation that the global community regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
