"A household based in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and experienced tutor to guide their youngest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might naturally miss the phrase "first-steps" as simple figurative language.
Yet, it might be the most important element of this distinctive position posting, as it attempts to recruit a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have since been sent in since the unidentified family posted their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the post has received interest across the news, with several wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their hunt, explained that in spite of first scepticism, he considered the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional aspect of their demand, and how immature their son is.
However, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", the expert responded. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He said the older sibling had absorbed "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family explained to the consultant they did not want history to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the education at the outset here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will adopt the UK customs they want to instil.
He noted the tutor needed to be someone who attended "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told Adam the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, the arts and music so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son develop into a "British gentleman" will bring about success and open doors.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
But, in spite of all this instruction in "English culture", could the child adopt alleged cultural leaning from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Yes", replied he. "The family know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who express these reservations.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the development of becoming bicultural, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
He noted that he had relocated from China to the UK at the period of seven, and had been educated understanding and practicing both cultures. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can function as a representation of Britishness, a person who can possibly transplant the attributes of a British gentleman to a infant child, appears naive and impractical," he stated.
"Based on my background, engaging a typically British tutor from early childhood will not automatically create the goal they desire.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been privileged enough to enjoy numerous of the situations they hope for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, UK identity is something the expert believes can be taught – and marketed.
"I think the fact that the world regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
