"A household based in north London wants to find an remarkable and skilled tutor to assist their youngest child on his initial journey to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might naturally miss the phrase "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
Yet, it might be the crucial aspect of this distinctive position posting, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have already been received since the unidentified family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the advert has attracted notice throughout the news, with numerous wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, said that in spite of early skepticism, he considered the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional aspect of their request, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", he replied. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family informed the consultant they did not want this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a UK tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the education at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," said the CEO.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will pick up the UK customs they want to cultivate.
Adam said the tutor had to be someone who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Money No Object
The family informed him the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in horse riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Additionally though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he comments.
Yet, despite all this guidance in "English culture", could the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he resides with regardless?
"Absolutely", said he. "The parents realize this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he explained.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who have these reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who provides personal educators, stated that "the process of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
Peter explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated experiencing and practicing two backgrounds. He went on to learn at Cambridge University.
"The notion that an individual can act as a embodiment of English culture, a person who can somehow impart the qualities of a English gentleman to a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and impractical," he stated.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from infancy will does not instantly produce the outcome they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to experience numerous of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, personal identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, English culture is something Adam thinks can be instructed – and marketed.
"I believe the situation that the world holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
