"A family located in North London is looking for an exceptional and qualified instructor to assist their smallest child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might easily skip the phrase "first-steps" as mere an expression.
However, it might be the crucial aspect of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to recruit a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have already been sent in since the unnamed family advertised their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the advert has gained notice across the news, with many asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their hunt, said that notwithstanding early scepticism, he found the concept "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the unusual nature of their demand, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, 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 stage "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert answered. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the firstborn had adopted "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family informed the consultant they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their new baby.
The intention: To bring in a British tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the development at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," explained the expert.
It's via this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to instil.
He noted the tutor needed to be an individual who attended "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to the expert the selected educator should preferably also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about success and open doors.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he adds.
But, in spite of all this tutelage in "UK identity", could the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he resides with regardless?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "The family realize this might not succeed, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who have these doubts.
An education leader, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
Peter wrote that he had moved from China to the UK at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised understanding and living both cultures. He progressed to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that one individual can function as a living vessel of English culture, an individual who can in some way transplant the qualities of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"From my perspective, employing a typically English tutor from early childhood will does not automatically produce the result they desire.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy several of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity can not be forced from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and marketed.
"In my view the reality that the international society holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
