"A household residing in north London is looking for an extraordinary and skilled tutor to support their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might naturally overlook the wording "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it might be the crucial part of this unusual job advert, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a one-year-old.
Many of applications have already been submitted since the anonymous family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the post has gained notice in the press, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their hunt, said that in spite of initial skepticism, he viewed the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he said they recognized the unconventional aspect of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
But, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had by then become established".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam answered. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He stated the older sibling had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family explained to the consultant they did not want the same situation to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the development at the start here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained the expert.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to instil.
Adam explained the tutor must be an individual who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in equestrian activities, winter sports, creative fields and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son grow into a "British gentleman" will bring about success and provide access.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he notes.
But, despite all this tutelage in "English culture", would the child adopt what is termed cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he lives with regardless?
"Absolutely", answered the CEO. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'we should try and we should start as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the education sector who have similar doubts.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter explained that he had moved from China to the UK at the period of seven, and had been raised understanding and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that a single person can serve as a representation of English culture, someone who can in some way transplant the characteristics of a UK sophisticate onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"Based on my background, employing a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will not automatically create the outcome they want.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and however I have been privileged enough to enjoy several of the experiences 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 be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, English culture is something the expert hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"In my view the fact that the international society views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
