"Parents based in North London wants to find an remarkable and skilled educator to guide their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily skip the wording "first-steps" as mere an expression.
But, it could be the most important element of this distinctive job advert, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Many of responses have already been received since the anonymous family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the listing has gained interest in the news, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that notwithstanding initial skepticism, he found the idea "visionary", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he said they appreciated the unconventional character of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural bias had by then set in".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert answered. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the older sibling had picked up "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family told him they did not want the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a UK tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the learning at the start here is rather osmotic," said the CEO.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to instil.
Adam explained the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to him the selected educator should preferably also have understanding of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son grow into a "British gentleman" will lead to achievement and create opportunities.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he adds.
But, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "English culture", would the child absorb alleged cultural influence from the globally influenced family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", said the CEO. "They understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who express similar doubts.
An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who also offer individual instructors, commented that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
Peter wrote that he had emigrated from China to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and living two backgrounds. He continued to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a representation of UK identity, a person who can somehow impart the qualities of a English gentleman upon a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"From my perspective, engaging a distinctly UK tutor from babyhood will not automatically create the outcome they want.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience numerous of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be dictated from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert believes can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the global community holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
