"A household located in North London is looking for an extraordinary and experienced tutor to guide their most junior child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally miss the wording "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
But, it could be the most important aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it aims to find a tutor for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have now been received since the unnamed family published their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has gained notice throughout the press, with several wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their search, explained that in spite of early skepticism, he viewed the idea "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he said they recognized the unconventional nature of their request, and how immature their son is.
However, 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 age "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their infant.
The strategy: To bring in a UK tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the learning at the beginning here is somewhat osmotic," explained the expert.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to cultivate.
Adam said the tutor needed to be an individual who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told him the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a diverse set of interests.
More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will result in achievement and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he comments.
But, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", would the child pick up what is termed cultural influence from the international family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", said the CEO. "The family realize this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Impractical
A number of in the tutoring industry who have similar doubts.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, stated that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had relocated from China to the Britain at the period of seven, and had been raised knowing and living both cultures. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that a single person can act as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can possibly transfer the qualities of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, appears optimistic and impractical," he stated.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly UK tutor from infancy will does not automatically produce the outcome they desire.
"I did not have such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to enjoy many of the experiences they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, cultural identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be educated – and sold.
"I believe the situation that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
