"Parents located in north London is looking for an exceptional and qualified educator to guide their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might naturally overlook the term "first-steps" as simple an expression.
Yet, it may be the most significant aspect of this distinctive position posting, as it aims to find a mentor for a infant.
Hundreds of applications have since been received since the unnamed family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the listing has attracted interest across the media, with numerous wondering why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that despite first scepticism, he viewed the concept "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he said they appreciated the atypical aspect of their request, and how young their son is.
However, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", Adam replied. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their infant.
The plan: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the education at the beginning here is somewhat absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to instil.
He noted the tutor must be an individual who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed him the selected educator should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, creative fields and music so as to influence the child in a wide range of passions.
Furthermore though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and open doors.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this instruction in "Britishness", might the child adopt so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Absolutely", replied the CEO. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the private teaching field who have those concerns.
Peter Cui, head and founder of Blue Education, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the development of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
Peter noted that he had emigrated from China to the United Kingdom at the time of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and practicing dual heritages. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that one individual can function as a representation of UK identity, a person who can somehow transfer the attributes of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, appears idealistic and impractical," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly UK tutor from babyhood will will not automatically produce the goal they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been privileged enough to enjoy many of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, personal identity can not be dictated from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, Britishness is something the expert thinks can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the world regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
