"A household based in north London seeks an exceptional and skilled tutor to guide their smallest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might readily skip the wording "first-steps" as mere figurative language.
However, it might be the most important aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it attempts to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of applications have since been received since the anonymous family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has received attention across the press, with numerous questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, explained that in spite of initial doubt, he considered the plan "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the atypical aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
However, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert answered. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the older sibling had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family explained to the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is rather acquired indirectly," stated Adam.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they want to instil.
The consultant said the tutor needed to be an individual who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Money No Object
The family explained to him the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or passion in riding, winter sports, the arts and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Furthermore though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and open doors.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he adds.
Yet, notwithstanding all this instruction in "English culture", might the child adopt what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by anyway?
"Absolutely", answered Adam. "The parents realize this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the education sector who share those reservations.
An education leader, chief executive of a tutoring service, who supplies personal educators, stated that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
He explained that he had emigrated from China to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated experiencing and practicing two backgrounds. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a living vessel of Britishness, someone who can somehow impart the attributes of a English gentleman to a 12-month-old child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a typically British tutor from early childhood will not automatically achieve the goal they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to enjoy many of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity cannot be forced from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, English culture is something Adam believes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I believe the situation that the international society views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
