"A family based in north London wants to find an extraordinary and skilled instructor to assist their smallest child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might readily skip the phrase "first-steps" as simple figurative language.
Yet, it might be the crucial aspect of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have already been received since the anonymous family advertised their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the post has attracted attention across the news, with numerous wondering why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding early skepticism, he considered the idea "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional aspect of their request, and how immature their son is.
But, 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 age "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert answered. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is rather absorbed naturally," said Adam.
It's via this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they aim to impart.
He said the tutor needed to be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator must be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed Adam the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, the arts and music so as to influence the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a range of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up 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 bring about accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he comments.
But, notwithstanding all this instruction in "English culture", might the child pick up what is termed cultural bias from the international family he resides with regardless?
"Absolutely", answered the CEO. "The family know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'we should try and let's go as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who express these reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of a tutoring service, who also offer private tutors, commented that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
Peter explained that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of seven, and had been raised understanding and living both cultures. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that one individual can serve as a living vessel of UK identity, someone who can in some way transplant the attributes of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, seems to me naive and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a typically UK tutor from babyhood will does not necessarily achieve the outcome they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and however I have been lucky enough to experience many of the experiences they hope for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something Adam thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the world holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
