"Parents located in the northern part of London wants to find an exceptional and qualified tutor to support their smallest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might naturally overlook the term "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
But, it may be the crucial part of this unique employment listing, as it aims to recruit a tutor for a one-year-old.
Many of submissions have already been sent in since the unnamed family published their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received notice in the news, with many wondering why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their search, stated that in spite of first scepticism, he considered the concept "visionary", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he said they understood the atypical aspect of their request, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "The manner you eat, the manner 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 wished to avoid history to recur with their infant.
The intention: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the education at the start here is somewhat osmotic," explained the CEO.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the UK customs they wish to instil.
The consultant noted the tutor must be somebody who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed Adam the selected educator should preferably also have understanding of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, in spite of all this instruction in "Britishness", could the child pick up alleged cultural influence from the international family he is raised by anyway?
"Yes", said the CEO. "The family understand this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Impractical
Several in the private teaching field who have similar concerns.
Peter Cui, head and founder of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, stated that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had moved from Asia to the Britain at the age of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and practicing two backgrounds. He continued to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can function as a living vessel of Britishness, an individual who can possibly impart the attributes of a English gentleman onto a infant child, strikes me as naive and unrealistic," he wrote.
"Based on my background, employing a distinctly UK tutor from babyhood will not instantly achieve the result they hope for.
"I did not have such a tutor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, Britishness is something Adam thinks 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
