"A family based in north London is looking for an remarkable and experienced instructor to assist their smallest child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might easily miss the term "first-steps" as mere an expression.
But, it could be the most significant aspect of this unique job advert, as it attempts to find a tutor for a infant.
Many of applications have now been submitted since the unidentified family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the listing has received interest throughout the media, with many wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, said that in spite of early doubt, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he noted they understood the unusual aspect of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
But, 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 age "cultural conditioning had by then set in".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", he replied. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He said the older sibling had picked up "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid history to happen again with their younger child.
The intention: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is rather absorbed naturally," said the CEO.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they wish to cultivate.
He said the tutor needed to be someone who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in riding, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
More than that though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", might the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", said the CEO. "The parents understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the education sector who express those reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer private tutors, commented that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
He noted that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the period of 7 years old, and had been raised experiencing and embodying dual heritages. He went on to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can act as a representation of Britishness, a person who can possibly transplant the attributes of a English gentleman upon a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he stated.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly English tutor from babyhood will will not instantly create the result they desire.
"I never had such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live many of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be imposed from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the expert thinks can be instructed – and marketed.
"In my view the reality that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
