"A household residing in North London is looking for an exceptional and skilled instructor to guide their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might readily miss the phrase "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
But, it may be the most significant aspect of this unique employment listing, as it attempts to hire a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have now been sent in since the anonymous family posted their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the post has attracted attention across the news, with several questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that despite early skepticism, he viewed the concept "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he noted they appreciated the unconventional aspect of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already become established".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert answered. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the elder child had adopted "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to recur with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the development at the start here is kind of osmotic," said Adam.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will acquire the UK customs they wish to impart.
Adam explained the tutor had to be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family informed him the chosen tutor should preferably also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of passions.
More than that though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he adds.
Yet, notwithstanding all this guidance in "UK identity", could the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the international family he is raised by regardless?
"Yes", answered he. "The family understand this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he said.
Impractical
There are some in the private teaching field who have these concerns.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, commented that "the development of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
Peter explained that he had moved from China to the United Kingdom at the time of seven, and had been brought up understanding and practicing both cultures. He progressed to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a embodiment of Britishness, an individual who can somehow impart the attributes of a English gentleman to a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"Based on my background, engaging a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will not automatically create the outcome they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience several of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, personal identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be instructed – and marketed.
"In my view the situation that the world regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
