"Parents located in north London seeks an extraordinary and skilled tutor to guide their youngest child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally miss the phrase "first-steps" as mere figurative language.
But, it may be the most important aspect of this distinctive position posting, as it aims to recruit a teacher for a one-year-old.
Numerous of responses have since been received since the anonymous family posted their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the post has attracted interest across the media, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, head and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their hunt, stated that despite first scepticism, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he noted they understood the unusual nature of their request, and how immature their son is.
However, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", he responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the older sibling had picked up "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed Adam they did not want this pattern to happen again with their infant.
The intention: To engage a UK tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the education at the start here is kind of osmotic," stated Adam.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will acquire the British traits they wish to cultivate.
The consultant said the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a wide range of interests.
Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a range of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son grow into a "British gentleman" will lead to achievement and create opportunities.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he adds.
But, despite all this guidance in "English culture", would the child pick up alleged cultural influence from the international family he resides with regardless?
"Yes", replied Adam. "The parents know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as soon 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 those reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who supplies private tutors, wrote that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
Peter wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been educated experiencing and living both cultures. He progressed to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that a single person can act as a living vessel of English culture, someone who can in some way transfer the qualities of a UK sophisticate upon a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a typically English tutor from early childhood will not automatically create the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience many of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, English culture is something the expert hopes can be taught – and sold.
"I think the fact that the world regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
