"A household based in the northern part of London is looking for an extraordinary and qualified educator to guide their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally skip the wording "beginning" as mere a turn of phrase.
Yet, it may be the most significant part of this unique employment listing, as it aims to hire a tutor for a infant.
Many of submissions have already been sent in since the unnamed family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has gained notice in the media, with numerous asking why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that in spite of first doubt, he considered the concept "visionary", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he mentioned they recognized the unusual nature of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
But what did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He explained the older sibling had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family told Adam they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the development at the outset here is kind of osmotic," said the expert.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they want to cultivate.
The consultant explained the tutor must be an individual who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and music so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will bring about achievement and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he notes.
Yet, notwithstanding all this instruction in "UK identity", could the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by regardless?
"Yes", said Adam. "The family know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he said.
Impractical
There are some in the education sector who express these concerns.
Another CEO, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies personal educators, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
Peter explained that he had emigrated from China to the United Kingdom at the time of childhood, and had been brought up understanding and embodying both cultures. He progressed to study at Cambridge University.
"The notion that a single person can act as a representation of English culture, a person who can in some way transfer the characteristics of a UK sophisticate to a 12-month-old child, seems to me naive and impractical," he wrote.
"In my experience, engaging a distinctly English tutor from babyhood will not necessarily achieve the goal they desire.
"I did not have such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy many of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, personal identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, English culture is something Adam thinks can be educated – and marketed.
"In my view the fact that the global community regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
