"A family based in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and skilled tutor to guide their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily miss the phrase "first-steps" as simple figurative language.
But, it might be the most significant aspect of this distinctive position posting, as it aims to recruit a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have now been received since the anonymous family posted their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the advert has attracted interest across the news, with numerous asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their hunt, said that despite early skepticism, he viewed the plan "visionary", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the unusual character of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
But, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had by then set in".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He explained the elder child had picked up "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family told him they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," explained the expert.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they aim to cultivate.
He noted the tutor must be somebody who studied at "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed him the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a wide range of interests.
Additionally though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about accomplishment and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
Yet, notwithstanding all this instruction in "English culture", would the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the international family he resides with regardless?
"Absolutely", said Adam. "They realize this could fail, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Impractical
There are some in the private teaching field who share these doubts.
An education leader, chief executive of an educational organization, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had moved from Asia to the Britain at the age of childhood, and had been educated understanding and practicing dual heritages. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can function as a embodiment of English culture, a person who can possibly transfer the attributes of a British gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly English tutor from infancy will does not instantly achieve the goal they desire.
"I did not have such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live several of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, self-identity should not be dictated from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I believe the situation that the international society views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
