"A family based in the northern part of London seeks an remarkable and experienced educator to assist their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the phrase "first-steps" as simple an expression.
But, it could be the most significant part of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have already been submitted since the anonymous family posted their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the listing has attracted attention across the news, with numerous wondering why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, stated that in spite of early skepticism, he considered the plan "visionary", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the atypical aspect of their request, and how immature their son is.
But, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
But what does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam answered. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family told the consultant they did not want this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The strategy: To bring in a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the learning at the beginning here is somewhat absorbed naturally," stated the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will adopt the British traits they want to instil.
He explained the tutor needed to be somebody who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed Adam the selected educator should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in riding, winter sports, the arts and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
Furthermore though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a range of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son become a "UK sophisticate" will result in success and open doors.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he comments.
Yet, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", would the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?
"Absolutely", answered he. "They know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.
Impractical
Several in the private teaching field who express those reservations.
An education leader, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who supplies personal educators, wrote that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying both cultures. He went on to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that a single person can function as a embodiment of Britishness, an individual who can somehow impart the qualities of a UK sophisticate to a 12-month-old child, appears naive and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, having a typically English tutor from early childhood will will not automatically create the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to enjoy numerous of the situations they hope for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something Adam thinks can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I believe the fact that the international society regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
