"A family based in north London wants to find an remarkable and qualified instructor to support their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might easily overlook the phrase "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
But, it may be the crucial element of this unique position posting, as it attempts to recruit a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of submissions have since been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the listing has gained interest across the news, with numerous wondering why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their hunt, stated that despite initial doubt, he viewed the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they understood the unconventional nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam responded. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the elder child had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed him they wished to avoid this pattern to recur with their infant.
The plan: To engage a English tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the development at the outset here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said the CEO.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they want to instil.
The consultant said the tutor had to be an individual who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Additionally though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son become a "English gentleman" will lead to success and open doors.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he adds.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "English culture", could the child adopt alleged cultural leaning from the international family he resides with regardless?
"Absolutely", replied Adam. "The family realize this could fail, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Impractical
There are some in the education sector who share those concerns.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who also offer private tutors, stated that "the process of embracing two identities, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that one individual can serve as a embodiment of Britishness, an individual who can in some way transplant the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"In my experience, engaging a distinctly English tutor from early childhood will not automatically achieve the result they desire.
"I never had such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to live many of the situations they aspire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, personal identity should not be dictated from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, UK identity is something Adam believes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I think the reality that the world regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
