"Parents based in North London wants to find an extraordinary and experienced tutor to support their smallest child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might easily overlook the phrase "first-steps" as just an expression.
But, it could be the most important aspect of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to recruit a teacher for a infant.
Numerous of submissions have now been sent in since the anonymous family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the listing has gained notice in the news, with numerous wondering why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their quest, said that in spite of first doubt, he viewed the idea "visionary", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he noted they recognized the unusual aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already become established".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they wished to avoid the same situation to repeat itself with their younger child.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the education at the start here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's via this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will pick up the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.
The consultant explained the tutor had to be someone who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he notes.
Yet, notwithstanding all this guidance in "UK identity", would the child adopt so-called cultural leaning from the international family he resides with anyway?
"Certainly", answered he. "The parents realize this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as early as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the private teaching field who share these concerns.
Peter Cui, head and founder of an educational organization, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
Peter explained that he had relocated from Asia to the Britain at the time of childhood, and had been raised understanding and living dual heritages. He continued to study at Cambridge University.
"The notion that an individual can function as a representation of UK identity, a person who can possibly transplant the qualities of a British gentleman upon a infant child, seems to me idealistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"Based on my background, having a quintessentially English tutor from infancy will will not automatically achieve the outcome they desire.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience several of the experiences they hope for their son."
He added: "The truth is, personal identity can not be dictated from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something the CEO believes can be taught – and marketed.
"In my view the reality that the global community holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
