"A household based in north London wants to find an remarkable and qualified educator to assist their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might naturally skip the term "beginning" as just an expression.
But, it may be the most significant part of this unique position posting, as it attempts to find a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of responses have since been submitted since the anonymous family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted attention across the press, with many asking why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, head and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their hunt, stated that notwithstanding initial scepticism, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already set in".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", Adam answered. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the older sibling had adopted "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told Adam they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their infant.
The plan: To bring in a UK tutor, who must speak with RP, to shape the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is kind of osmotic," explained the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they wish to cultivate.
He explained the tutor needed to be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told him the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of lessons 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 view, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and provide access.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he adds.
However, in spite of all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the international family he resides with in any case?
"Certainly", answered the CEO. "The parents understand this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Impractical
There are some in the private teaching field who share similar doubts.
Peter Cui, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
Peter wrote that he had moved from the Far East to the UK at the time of seven, and had been brought up understanding and practicing both cultures. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that a single person can function as a living vessel of UK identity, a person who can possibly transplant the characteristics of a British gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a typically British tutor from infancy will not instantly produce the goal they desire.
"I did not have such a figure, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the situations they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, cultural identity can not be dictated from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert believes can be instructed – and sold.
"In my view the situation that the world regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
