"Parents residing in North London wants to find an exceptional and qualified instructor to support their most junior child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might naturally miss the phrase "first-steps" as mere an expression.
But, it may be the crucial element of this unusual employment listing, as it seeks to find a tutor for a one-year-old.
Many of submissions have already been received since the unnamed family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has gained interest across the media, with several questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their hunt, said that notwithstanding first scepticism, he viewed the idea "visionary", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the unusual nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already set in".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To engage a English tutor, who must speak with RP, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the learning at the start here is somewhat osmotic," stated the CEO.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will pick up the UK customs they want to instil.
Adam explained the tutor had to be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told Adam the selected educator should preferably also have understanding of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, winter sports, the arts and music so as to influence the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he explained the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a range of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will result in success and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
However, in spite of all this instruction in "English culture", might the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Yes", answered he. "They understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the education sector who have these reservations.
An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, stated that "the development of embracing two identities, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
Peter noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to study at Cambridge University.
"The idea that one individual can act as a living vessel of English culture, an individual who can somehow impart the attributes of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially UK tutor from infancy will not instantly create the outcome they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the situations they hope for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity can not be forced from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the expert thinks can be instructed – and sold.
"I believe the fact that the global community views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
