"A household based in north London is looking for an extraordinary and qualified educator to assist their most junior child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might easily miss the phrase "first-steps" as simple an expression.
Yet, it could be the most significant aspect of this unusual job advert, as it attempts to hire a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Many of responses have now been sent in since the anonymous family posted their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted attention in the press, with several wondering why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, stated that in spite of first skepticism, he considered the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they appreciated the atypical aspect of their demand, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already taken hold".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", Adam replied. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He stated the firstborn had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed Adam they did not want the same situation to happen again with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the beginning here is somewhat osmotic," stated the CEO.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the British traits they aim to cultivate.
He explained the tutor had to be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and learning 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 bring about success and provide access.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
However, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "English culture", would the child pick up alleged cultural leaning from the international family he is raised by anyway?
"Yes", replied he. "The family know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the private teaching field who share those doubts.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
Peter noted that he had moved from the Far East to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated understanding and living both cultures. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that one individual can serve as a embodiment of UK identity, someone who can in some way impart the attributes of a UK sophisticate upon a infant child, appears naive and impractical," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will not instantly create the result they hope for.
"I never had such a figure, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to experience many of the experiences they hope for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, personal identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, Britishness is something the CEO believes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I think the fact that the international society views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
