"A family based in north London wants to find an extraordinary and qualified educator to guide their smallest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might readily skip the term "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
Yet, it may be the crucial part of this unique employment listing, as it attempts to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have now been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has gained attention in the press, with many asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their quest, said that notwithstanding early scepticism, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they recognized the unusual nature of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert replied. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family told the consultant they did not want this pattern to happen again with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who must speak with RP, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is rather osmotic," said the expert.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will adopt the UK customs they want to impart.
He noted the tutor had to be someone who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to him the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", could the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he is raised by anyway?
"Certainly", answered he. "They realize this may not work, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he stated.
Impractical
There are some in the education sector who express these concerns.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, commented that "the development of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
He wrote that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the time of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that one individual can serve as a representation of English culture, someone who can possibly transplant the characteristics of a British gentleman onto a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, having a distinctly UK tutor from early childhood will not automatically create the outcome they hope for.
"I never had such a figure, and yet I have been privileged enough to live many of the situations they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity cannot be imposed from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, English culture is something the CEO thinks can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the international society views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
