"A family based in North London is looking for an remarkable and skilled tutor to guide their youngest child on his early path to becoming an English gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might naturally miss the phrase "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it might be the most important element of this unique job advert, as it attempts to find a mentor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of submissions have already been received since the anonymous family published their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the listing has gained notice across the media, with many asking why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding early doubt, he found the concept "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unusual nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already taken hold".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert responded. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family told the consultant they wished to avoid history to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to influence the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the development at the outset here is kind of absorbed naturally," stated the CEO.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will adopt the English characteristics they wish to instil.
He said the tutor must be someone who studied at "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he stated the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about success and open doors.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.
But, notwithstanding all this guidance in "UK identity", could the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he lives with regardless?
"Absolutely", replied the CEO. "The family understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the private teaching field who have similar doubts.
An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who also offer private tutors, stated that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
He noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and living both cultures. He continued to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that one individual can act as a representation of English culture, an individual who can somehow transfer the attributes of a British gentleman to a one-year-old child, appears naive and unrealistic," he wrote.
"In my experience, employing a typically English tutor from infancy will will not necessarily produce the goal they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been privileged enough to enjoy several of the situations they hope for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity can not be forced from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I believe the situation that the international society regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
