"A household residing in the northern part of London seeks an exceptional and experienced instructor to support their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might naturally skip the wording "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it might be the most significant part of this unusual position posting, as it aims to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have since been submitted since the anonymous family posted their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the post has received interest throughout the news, with several wondering why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their hunt, said that in spite of early doubt, he considered the concept "visionary", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he noted they understood the unconventional aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had by then set in".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", the expert replied. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the elder child had adopted "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. 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 RP, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the outset here is kind of osmotic," said the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will pick up the British traits they wish to instil.
He noted the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he comments.
But, in spite of all this instruction in "Britishness", would the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by anyway?
"Yes", said Adam. "The parents know this may not work, 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 price of it is not a concern," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who share those concerns.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who also offer individual instructors, commented that "the development of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had relocated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been brought up understanding and practicing both cultures. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that one individual can function as a living vessel of English culture, an individual who can in some way transfer the attributes of a English gentleman onto a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and unrealistic," he commented.
"Based on my background, engaging a typically English tutor from infancy will not necessarily create the goal they desire.
"I never had such a figure, and however I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, self-identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, English culture is something the expert believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"In my view the situation that the global community regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
