"A household located in North London seeks an extraordinary and qualified instructor to assist their youngest child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily miss the phrase "first-steps" as just figurative language.
Yet, it might be the most significant aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it aims to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of applications have now been submitted since the anonymous family posted their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the listing has gained notice in the media, with numerous asking why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their search, said that notwithstanding early skepticism, he considered the concept "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they understood the unusual nature of their request, and how young their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert responded. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He said the firstborn had absorbed "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to him they did not want this pattern to happen again with their younger child.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the education at the start here is rather acquired indirectly," said Adam.
It's via this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the British traits they wish to instil.
He noted the tutor needed to be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator must be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Money No Object
The family explained to the expert the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, alpine skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Furthermore though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will result in achievement and open doors.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he adds.
Yet, notwithstanding all this guidance in "Britishness", could the child pick up alleged cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with regardless?
"Absolutely", replied he. "The family know this may not work, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who express similar doubts.
Another CEO, chief executive of an educational organization, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the process of embracing two identities, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
Peter explained that he had moved from Asia to the Britain at the age of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and practicing both cultures. He went on to learn at Cambridge University.
"The idea that one individual can function as a embodiment of Britishness, an individual who can in some way transplant the attributes of a English gentleman upon a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and impractical," he stated.
"In my experience, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from infancy will will not instantly achieve the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience many of the situations they hope for their son."
He added: "The reality is, personal identity cannot be imposed from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be instructed – and marketed.
"In my view the situation that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
