"A household based in north London seeks an exceptional and skilled instructor to guide their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might easily skip the term "first-steps" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it could be the most significant aspect of this unique job advert, as it attempts to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have already been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the advert has gained attention in the news, with many questioning why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their hunt, explained that despite early scepticism, he viewed the concept "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional nature of their request, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", he answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the elder child had picked up "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family informed the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To hire a English tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the learning at the beginning here is rather absorbed naturally," stated the CEO.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will adopt the UK customs they want to instil.
Adam explained the tutor needed to be someone who studied at "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told Adam the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a wide range of interests.
Furthermore though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and provide access.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he notes.
But, despite all this instruction in "UK identity", could the child absorb alleged cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Certainly", said Adam. "The family know this might not succeed, but they've just taken the view of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the education sector who express those reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, stated that "the development of embracing two identities, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
The expert wrote that he had emigrated from Asia to the Britain at the time of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and living two backgrounds. He continued to study at Cambridge University.
"The notion that an individual can function as a representation of Britishness, an individual who can possibly transfer the attributes of a British gentleman onto a infant child, seems to me naive and unfeasible," he wrote.
"In my experience, engaging a quintessentially UK tutor from infancy will does not automatically produce the goal they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, cultural identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be educated – and sold.
"In my view the reality that the international society regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
