"Parents residing in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and experienced instructor to assist their most junior child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might readily miss the wording "first-steps" as simple an expression.
Yet, it could be the crucial element of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to find a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have now been sent in since the unnamed family posted their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received attention across the press, with many wondering why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, said that notwithstanding early doubt, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they understood the unusual character of their demand, and how immature their son is.
However, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed him they wished to avoid this pattern to repeat itself with their infant.
The intention: To bring in a UK tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the learning at the start here is kind of osmotic," explained the CEO.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they want to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor must be an individual who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Money No Object
The family told him the selected educator should preferably also have knowledge of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he stated the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son grow into a "British gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he notes.
However, despite all this tutelage in "UK identity", could the child adopt alleged cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with regardless?
"Absolutely", replied he. "The family know this may not work, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who express those reservations.
Another CEO, chief executive of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, commented that "the process of becoming bicultural, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
He explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the period of seven, and had been brought up understanding and living two backgrounds. He progressed to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that a single person can act as a embodiment of UK identity, an individual who can somehow transplant the attributes of a British gentleman to a infant child, appears optimistic and impractical," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a distinctly English tutor from infancy will does not necessarily achieve the result they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the situations they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity should not be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something Adam thinks can be instructed – and sold.
"I believe the fact that the global community views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
