"Parents residing in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and skilled educator to guide their youngest child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily miss the phrase "first-steps" as mere figurative language.
But, it may be the most important part of this distinctive job advert, as it aims to find a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have since been submitted since the unidentified family posted their request for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the listing has received attention in the media, with several wondering why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, said that despite early skepticism, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the atypical aspect of their requirement, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the older sibling had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family explained to the consultant they did not want history to happen again with their younger child.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with RP, to shape the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the start here is kind of absorbed naturally," said the CEO.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to instil.
He noted the tutor had to be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to him the successful candidate should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to register the child on a range of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will lead to achievement and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he comments.
Yet, in spite of all this instruction in "UK identity", might the child absorb so-called cultural influence from the international family he is raised by anyway?
"Yes", answered Adam. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who express those doubts.
An education leader, chief executive of an educational organization, who also offer personal educators, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
The expert wrote that he had relocated from China to the UK at the period of seven, and had been brought up experiencing and living dual heritages. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can serve as a embodiment of UK identity, someone who can possibly transfer the attributes of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he wrote.
"In my experience, employing a distinctly British tutor from early childhood will not automatically produce the result they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, self-identity can not be dictated from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, UK identity is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the international society views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
