"Parents located in the northern part of London seeks an exceptional and experienced tutor to guide their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally skip the phrase "first-steps" as just figurative language.
Yet, it could be the most important part of this unique job advert, as it attempts to recruit a teacher for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have since been sent in since the unidentified family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who must be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the advert has attracted attention across the press, with numerous wondering why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their search, said that notwithstanding initial skepticism, he found the plan "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the atypical aspect of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
But, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already taken hold".
But what did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed Adam they hoped to prevent history to recur with their infant.
The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the education at the start here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to impart.
The consultant said the tutor had to be someone who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed Adam the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or interest in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
More than that though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and open doors.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
Yet, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", could the child adopt what is termed cultural influence from the international family he resides with in any case?
"Yes", replied Adam. "The parents understand this may not work, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as early as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he said.
Impractical
Several in the private teaching field who have those doubts.
Another CEO, chief executive of an educational organization, who supplies personal educators, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
The expert noted that he had emigrated from China to the United Kingdom at the time of childhood, and had been raised knowing and living both cultures. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can function as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can possibly impart the characteristics of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"Based on my background, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will not automatically achieve the goal they want.
"I did not have such a tutor, and however I have been lucky enough to live several of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, personal identity cannot be imposed from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, Britishness is something the expert thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"In my view the fact that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
