"A household based in north London is looking for an extraordinary and qualified tutor to support their smallest child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally skip the phrase "first-steps" as simple an expression.
However, it may be the most important aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it attempts to find a tutor for a one-year-old.
Many of submissions have now been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has attracted interest in the press, with many asking why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their hunt, stated that notwithstanding first scepticism, he considered the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they appreciated the unusual character of their demand, and how immature their son is.
However, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the firstborn had absorbed "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they did not want the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the development at the start here is kind of osmotic," explained the CEO.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to instil.
He noted the tutor must be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to him the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in riding, skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
Furthermore though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will bring about success and open doors.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
But, notwithstanding all this instruction in "UK identity", could the child pick up alleged cultural leaning from the multicultural family he lives with regardless?
"Yes", answered Adam. "The family understand this could fail, but they've just taken the view of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the private teaching field who share similar reservations.
An education leader, chief executive of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
Peter wrote that he had relocated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the time of childhood, and had been brought up understanding and living both cultures. He went on to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that an individual can act as a representation of Britishness, someone who can in some way transplant the characteristics of a English gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as optimistic and impractical," he stated.
"In my experience, having a distinctly British tutor from babyhood will does not automatically produce the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, personal identity can not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be instructed – and sold.
"I think the reality that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
