"Parents based in North London is looking for an exceptional and experienced instructor to assist their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might readily overlook the term "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
But, it could be the crucial part of this unique employment listing, as it seeks to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of responses have since been sent in since the unidentified family published their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the listing has attracted attention throughout the press, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their hunt, stated that despite initial skepticism, he found the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they appreciated the atypical aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then taken hold".
But what did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the elder child had absorbed "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the development at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," explained the CEO.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the UK customs they want to cultivate.
He said the tutor must be somebody who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Money No Object
The family told him the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and music so as to shape the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to achievement and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "UK identity", might the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the globally influenced family he resides with regardless?
"Yes", answered he. "The parents realize this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the tutoring industry who share those reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been educated experiencing and living dual heritages. He progressed to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a living vessel of UK identity, a person who can possibly transplant the qualities of a UK sophisticate upon a infant child, strikes me as naive and unfeasible," he stated.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially English tutor from infancy will does not automatically achieve the goal they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, self-identity cannot be forced from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, Britishness is something the expert believes can be taught – and sold.
"I believe the reality that the world holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
