"A household residing in North London wants to find an exceptional and experienced instructor to assist their youngest child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the phrase "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
Yet, it might be the crucial part of this unique job advert, as it seeks to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of applications have now been submitted 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 listing has gained attention throughout the press, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding early scepticism, he considered the concept "visionary", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he said they appreciated the atypical character of their request, and how early in age their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already become established".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", he responded. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the elder child had adopted "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family told the consultant they did not want history to happen again with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the education at the start here is kind of osmotic," stated Adam.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will adopt the English characteristics they wish to instil.
He said the tutor needed to be somebody who attended "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in equestrian activities, skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son develop into a "English gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he comments.
However, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "UK identity", might the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the multicultural family he lives with regardless?
"Certainly", said Adam. "The family realize this may not work, but they've just taken the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who share similar doubts.
An education leader, head and founder of a tutoring service, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the process of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had relocated from Asia to the Britain at the age of childhood, and had been educated understanding and living both cultures. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that a single person can function as a living vessel of UK identity, someone who can in some way transfer the qualities of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, appears optimistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a typically UK tutor from infancy will not automatically produce the goal they hope for.
"I did not have such a tutor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the experiences they desire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, cultural identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, Britishness is something Adam believes can be instructed – and sold.
"I think the situation that the world regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
