"A family based in North London wants to find an extraordinary and experienced tutor to assist their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might readily skip the phrase "first-steps" as simple an expression.
However, it may be the most important aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it seeks to find a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have since been submitted since the unidentified family published their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained interest across the media, with many wondering why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding initial doubt, he found the idea "visionary", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he noted they recognized the unusual character of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already become established".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert replied. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He explained the elder child had adopted "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To bring in a UK tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the development at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," said the CEO.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will pick up the English characteristics they aim to instil.
He explained the tutor must be someone who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told him the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a diverse set of passions.
Additionally though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will result in achievement and create opportunities.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he notes.
Yet, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "UK identity", would the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the international family he is raised by regardless?
"Absolutely", said Adam. "They know this may not work, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who share these concerns.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
Peter wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the period of 7 years old, and had been raised knowing and living both cultures. He progressed to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can act as a representation of Britishness, a person who can in some way impart the characteristics of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and unrealistic," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly English tutor from early childhood will not instantly produce the result they desire.
"I did not have such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy several of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, personal identity cannot be imposed from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something Adam believes can be taught – and commercialized.
"In my view the situation that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
