"Parents residing in North London is looking for an extraordinary and experienced tutor to support their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might easily overlook the phrase "first-steps" as simple figurative language.
However, it may be the crucial element of this distinctive job advert, as it aims to find a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have already been received since the unnamed family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has received notice across the press, with several questioning why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their search, explained that in spite of early skepticism, he found the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical aspect of their request, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had by then become established".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", he answered. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He explained the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told him they did not want history to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To hire a British tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the beginning here is kind of acquired indirectly," explained the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will acquire the English characteristics they wish to impart.
Adam noted the tutor had to 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 simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed the expert the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or interest in horse riding, skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Additionally though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son develop into a "British gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he adds.
But, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", would the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the globally influenced family he resides with anyway?
"Absolutely", said he. "The parents know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who express those concerns.
Another CEO, chief executive of Blue Education, who provides personal educators, commented that "the process of becoming bicultural, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
He noted that he had emigrated from Asia to the Britain at the period of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and practicing both cultures. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can function as a representation of English culture, someone who can in some way transfer the attributes of a British gentleman to a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, having a typically English tutor from babyhood will not automatically achieve the outcome they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience many of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He added: "The reality is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
