"A family residing in north London is looking for an remarkable and qualified tutor to support their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily skip the wording "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it may be the most significant part of this distinctive position posting, as it seeks to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of submissions have already been received since the anonymous family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the post has received attention in the media, with numerous wondering why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their hunt, explained that in spite of first scepticism, he found the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he noted they understood the unusual character of their request, and how young their son is.
However, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", Adam responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family explained to the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their infant.
The intention: To hire a English tutor, who must speak with RP, to influence the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the learning at the beginning here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the British traits they wish to instil.
The consultant said the tutor had to be someone who studied at "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to the expert the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in horse riding, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of interests.
Additionally though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and open doors.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he adds.
However, despite all this guidance in "English culture", might the child pick up so-called cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he is raised by anyway?
"Yes", said he. "The family realize this could fail, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the private teaching field who share these doubts.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer individual instructors, stated that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert noted that he had moved from Asia to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated experiencing and living dual heritages. He progressed to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that an individual can act as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can possibly transplant the characteristics of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he stated.
"From my perspective, having a typically UK tutor from infancy will will not automatically achieve the goal they want.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience several of the experiences they hope for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity can not be forced from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, English culture is something the expert hopes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the global community regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
