"A household based in north London is looking for an remarkable and skilled instructor to support their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might easily miss the wording "first-steps" as mere an expression.
However, it might be the most important element of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Many of submissions have already been submitted since the anonymous family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained attention across the press, with numerous asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their search, explained that in spite of early skepticism, he found the concept "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the unusual aspect of their request, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He explained the older sibling had picked up "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed him they hoped to prevent history to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To bring in a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is kind of acquired indirectly," stated Adam.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to instil.
The consultant explained the tutor had to be someone who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family informed him the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in riding, skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Furthermore though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son grow into a "British gentleman" will bring about achievement and create opportunities.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he adds.
However, despite all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child adopt alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?
"Certainly", replied he. "They realize this might not succeed, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the private teaching field who have those reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who supplies personal educators, stated that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
He noted that he had moved from the Far East to the Britain at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and practicing two backgrounds. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that one individual can serve as a living vessel of UK identity, someone who can possibly impart the attributes of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, appears idealistic and impractical," he stated.
"From my perspective, having a typically British tutor from infancy will does not automatically create the goal they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and however I have been lucky enough to experience numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, self-identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the CEO hopes can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the global community views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
