"Parents based in north London is looking for an exceptional and skilled educator to support their youngest child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might naturally miss the wording "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
Yet, it may be the most significant aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it aims to hire a teacher for a one-year-old.
Numerous of applications have now been submitted since the unnamed family published their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has attracted interest throughout the media, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their quest, explained that despite early skepticism, he considered the concept "visionary", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he said they understood the atypical aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained 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 bias had already taken hold".
But what does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to repeat itself with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the learning at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," stated the CEO.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to instil.
The consultant explained the tutor needed to be someone who went to "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of interests.
More than that though, he explained the family desired the tutor to sign up 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 minds, guiding their son become a "English gentleman" will lead to achievement and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", would the child absorb what is termed cultural influence from the globally influenced family he is raised by in any case?
"Absolutely", said the CEO. "The family know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the education sector who share similar doubts.
Another CEO, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
Peter wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been educated understanding and embodying two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that one individual can act as a living vessel of UK identity, an individual who can possibly transplant the characteristics of a UK sophisticate upon a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from infancy will will not necessarily achieve the goal they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience several of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, self-identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be instructed – and sold.
"I believe the situation that the global community regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
