"Parents residing in north London seeks an remarkable and qualified tutor to assist their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might readily overlook the term "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the crucial aspect of this unique job advert, as it seeks to recruit a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of applications have now been submitted since the unidentified family posted their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained interest in the media, with many asking why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their search, said that notwithstanding first skepticism, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they understood the unusual character of their demand, and how immature their son is.
But, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already set in".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family told the consultant they did not want the same situation to recur with their infant.
The plan: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the development at the outset here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said the CEO.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will adopt the UK customs they aim to instil.
Adam noted the tutor must be an individual who studied at "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or passion in equestrian activities, skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Furthermore though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son become a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and create opportunities.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he notes.
But, despite all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the globally influenced family he lives with regardless?
"Certainly", said the CEO. "They understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the education sector who share similar doubts.
An education leader, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, wrote that "the development of becoming bicultural, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
He noted that he had moved from the Far East to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been raised knowing and practicing dual heritages. He continued to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that one individual can serve as a representation of Britishness, a person who can possibly impart the characteristics of a British gentleman to a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and impractical," he wrote.
"In my experience, employing a typically British tutor from infancy will will not instantly create the goal they desire.
"I never had such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live many of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, personal identity can not be dictated from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the situation that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
