"A household residing in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and experienced instructor to assist their smallest child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might readily overlook the wording "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it might be the crucial element of this unique job advert, as it attempts to recruit a teacher for a one-year-old.
Numerous of applications have already been sent in since the unnamed family posted their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the advert has gained notice across the press, with several questioning why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their hunt, explained that in spite of initial skepticism, he viewed the plan "visionary", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional character of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He explained the elder child had adopted "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family told him they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their new baby.
The intention: To bring in a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said Adam.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will pick up the UK customs they wish to instil.
He noted the tutor needed to be an individual who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the selected educator should preferably also have understanding of or enthusiasm in horse riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will result in accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "English culture", could the child adopt alleged cultural influence from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?
"Yes", replied Adam. "The parents know this may not work, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Impractical
There are some in the private teaching field who express these doubts.
Peter Cui, chief executive of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
The expert noted that he had moved from the Far East to the Britain at the period of seven, and had been educated knowing and practicing both cultures. He went on to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that a single person can serve as a representation of UK identity, a person who can in some way transplant the characteristics of a British gentleman to a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he stated.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will not automatically produce the goal they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, cultural identity should not be forced from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, Britishness is something the expert thinks can be educated – and sold.
"I think the reality that the international society holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
