"A family based in north London wants to find an extraordinary and qualified instructor to assist their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might easily overlook the phrase "first-steps" as simple figurative language.
However, it might be the most significant aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to recruit a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have already been sent in since the unidentified family published their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received attention in the press, with numerous wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, explained that in spite of early skepticism, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the unusual nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
However, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already become established".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert answered. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had adopted "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family told Adam they did not want history to recur with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," said the CEO.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.
The consultant explained the tutor must be someone who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a wide range of interests.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "English gentleman" will lead to success and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, despite all this tutelage in "English culture", might the child adopt what is termed cultural leaning from the multicultural family he is raised by regardless?
"Yes", replied the CEO. "The family know this might not succeed, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as early as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who express these doubts.
An education leader, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
He explained that he had relocated from Asia to the Britain at the age of seven, and had been raised knowing and practicing both cultures. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The idea that an individual can act as a representation of English culture, someone who can somehow transplant the qualities of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and unrealistic," he wrote.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially UK tutor from early childhood will will not instantly achieve the outcome they hope for.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and however I have been privileged enough to experience many of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity can not be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the global community holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
