"Parents residing in north London seeks an remarkable and experienced tutor to support their most junior child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might naturally overlook the phrase "initial stages" as just a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the most important part of this unusual employment listing, as it seeks to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of submissions have already been received since the unnamed family posted their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received interest in the press, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their search, said that despite early scepticism, he found the plan "visionary", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they understood the atypical nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then set in".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam replied. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the older sibling had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family told the consultant they wished to avoid this pattern to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To hire a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the development at the beginning here is rather acquired indirectly," said Adam.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they want to cultivate.
The consultant explained the tutor must be someone who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator must be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, the arts and music so as to influence the child in a wide range of interests.
Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
But, despite all this instruction in "English culture", would the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he lives with in any case?
"Yes", answered Adam. "They understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who have similar concerns.
An education leader, chief executive of a tutoring service, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
He noted that he had emigrated from China to the UK at the period of seven, and had been brought up understanding and embodying dual heritages. He progressed to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that a single person can serve as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can somehow transplant the attributes of a English gentleman onto a one-year-old child, seems to me idealistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"Based on my background, employing a typically UK tutor from babyhood will not necessarily create the result they desire.
"I never had such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the experiences they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity can not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, English culture is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and sold.
"In my view the fact that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
