"A family residing in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and qualified educator to support their most junior child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily overlook the wording "first-steps" as just figurative language.
But, it may be the crucial part of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a infant.
Many of submissions have now been sent in since the unnamed family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has gained attention across the press, with several asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that despite early skepticism, he viewed the idea "visionary", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical character of their demand, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", the expert responded. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family explained to him they did not want this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a British tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the learning at the beginning here is kind of osmotic," stated the CEO.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they want to instil.
Adam said the tutor must be somebody who attended "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator must be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to him the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
Additionally though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", would the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he resides with regardless?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "They realize this may not work, but they've just taken the view of, 'we should try and let's go as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he stated.
Impractical
Several in the tutoring industry who share those reservations.
An education leader, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies private tutors, stated that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert explained that he had moved from the Far East to the UK at the time of seven, and had been brought up understanding and living two backgrounds. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that a single person can function as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can possibly transplant the characteristics of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, appears optimistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"Based on my background, engaging a typically UK tutor from babyhood will not instantly achieve the result they want.
"I did not have such a tutor, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience numerous of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"In my view the fact that the world holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
