"A family located in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and experienced instructor to assist their smallest child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might easily miss the phrase "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the most significant element of this distinctive employment listing, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of applications have already been sent in since the unnamed family posted their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted attention throughout the news, with several wondering why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their search, said that notwithstanding initial skepticism, he found the idea "visionary", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he noted they appreciated the unusual nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already become established".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert answered. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He said the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed Adam they hoped to prevent history to happen again with their infant.
The intention: To engage a UK tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," stated the expert.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will acquire the British traits they aim to cultivate.
Adam noted the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to him the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in equestrian activities, skiing, creative fields and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of interests.
Additionally though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will bring about achievement and open doors.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he notes.
However, despite all this instruction in "Britishness", might the child adopt so-called cultural leaning from the multicultural family he is raised by anyway?
"Absolutely", answered Adam. "They know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the tutoring industry who have these doubts.
Another CEO, head and founder of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, stated that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
Peter explained that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been raised experiencing and living dual heritages. He continued to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can act as a representation of English culture, an individual who can somehow impart the qualities of a English gentleman onto a one-year-old child, appears optimistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"Based on my background, engaging a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will will not necessarily create the result they desire.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, cultural identity can not be forced from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"In my view the situation that the world views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
