"A family based in the northern part of London seeks an remarkable and experienced tutor to guide their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might readily skip the phrase "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
However, it might be the most significant aspect of this unusual job advert, as it seeks to find a mentor for a one-year-old.
Many of applications have already been received since the unidentified family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the listing has gained attention across the news, with numerous asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that despite first doubt, he found the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he said they understood the atypical aspect of their demand, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then taken hold".
But what does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam replied. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the older sibling had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed him they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The strategy: To bring in a UK tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the education at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," stated the expert.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will pick up the British traits they want to impart.
The consultant said the tutor had to be somebody who went to "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor must 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 informed Adam the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or interest in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a wide range of passions.
Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
But, in spite of all this tutelage in "English culture", might the child absorb what is termed cultural bias from the international family he lives with in any case?
"Yes", said Adam. "They understand this could fail, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who have these concerns.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, commented that "the development of becoming bicultural, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
He noted that he had relocated from China to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been raised understanding and living two backgrounds. He went on to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that one individual can function as a living vessel of UK identity, a person who can possibly transfer the characteristics of a UK sophisticate upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly British tutor from babyhood will not necessarily create the result they desire.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and yet I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert believes can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the reality that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
