"A household residing in north London seeks an remarkable and qualified instructor to assist their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally miss the wording "first-steps" as simple an expression.
Yet, it might be the most significant aspect of this distinctive position posting, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.
Many of applications have now been received since the anonymous family posted their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted attention in the press, with numerous asking why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, said that in spite of first skepticism, he considered the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the atypical character of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam answered. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the older sibling had adopted "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they did not want this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The plan: To engage a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the development at the start here is kind of osmotic," explained the CEO.
It's through this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.
Adam said the tutor must be someone who studied at "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to Adam the chosen tutor should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will lead to achievement and create opportunities.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", could the child absorb alleged cultural influence from the globally influenced family he lives with in any case?
"Absolutely", said the CEO. "The family understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the private teaching field who express these concerns.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who provides individual instructors, commented that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
He explained that he had moved from Asia to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and living dual heritages. He continued to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The idea that a single person can serve as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can somehow transplant the characteristics of a English gentleman upon a infant child, seems to me idealistic and impractical," he stated.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from early childhood will not instantly produce the outcome they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live several of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, cultural identity can not be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, English culture is something the CEO thinks can be taught – and commercialized.
"I believe the situation that the global community regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
