"Parents located in North London seeks an exceptional and skilled tutor to support their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might easily overlook the phrase "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the most significant element of this unique employment listing, as it attempts to find a teacher for a infant.
Numerous of submissions have now been received since the unnamed family posted their request for the highly paid tutor, who must be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the advert has gained interest in the press, with many questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their search, stated that despite early scepticism, he considered the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he said they appreciated the atypical aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already become established".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He stated the elder child had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to the consultant they wished to avoid this pattern to repeat itself with their infant.
The plan: To engage a UK tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the learning at the beginning here is somewhat absorbed naturally," explained the expert.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to impart.
Adam noted the tutor needed to be someone who attended "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told the expert the successful candidate should preferably also have understanding of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he adds.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child adopt alleged cultural bias from the globally influenced family he resides with anyway?
"Absolutely", answered he. "The family know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who express these reservations.
An education leader, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who also offer private tutors, stated that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
The expert noted that he had moved from China to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been educated knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can act as a living vessel of UK identity, someone who can in some way transfer the attributes of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"In my experience, engaging a distinctly English tutor from infancy will will not necessarily create the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been privileged enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they hope for their son."
He added: "The truth is, self-identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the international society regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
