"A family located in the northern part of London wants to find an exceptional and qualified educator to support their smallest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might naturally miss the wording "first-steps" as mere figurative language.
However, it could be the crucial element of this unusual job advert, as it aims to hire a teacher for a infant.
Many of submissions have since been sent in since the anonymous family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the listing has received notice across the press, with several asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, stated that despite early skepticism, he viewed the concept "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they appreciated the atypical character of their demand, and how young their son is.
However, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the older sibling had absorbed "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family told him they did not want this pattern to happen again with their infant.
The strategy: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to influence the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the start here is somewhat osmotic," explained the CEO.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they aim to cultivate.
The consultant said the tutor needed to be someone who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or interest in riding, skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will result in success and create opportunities.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he comments.
However, in spite of all this instruction in "UK identity", might the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the international family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", said Adam. "The family realize this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as early as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the education sector who share similar doubts.
An education leader, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who also offer personal educators, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had emigrated from Asia to the UK at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and practicing both cultures. He continued to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that one individual can function as a living vessel of UK identity, an individual who can somehow transfer the qualities of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, appears naive and impractical," he wrote.
"In my experience, employing a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will will not instantly create the result they want.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience many of the experiences they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity should not be dictated from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, English culture is something Adam believes can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
