"A family based in North London wants to find an exceptional and experienced instructor to guide their smallest child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might naturally miss the term "first-steps" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it might be the most important aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a infant.
Numerous of applications have since been sent in since the anonymous family published their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received interest in the press, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their search, said that notwithstanding early skepticism, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he noted they understood the unconventional nature of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", the expert replied. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the older sibling had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family told Adam they did not want history to happen again with their younger child.
The plan: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the start here is kind of absorbed naturally," stated the CEO.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be an individual who attended "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed Adam the selected educator should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Furthermore though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will bring about success and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he notes.
But, despite all this instruction in "English culture", would the child adopt alleged cultural bias from the international family he is raised by regardless?
"Absolutely", replied he. "The family understand this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who share similar reservations.
An education leader, chief executive of a tutoring service, who also offer individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
The expert explained that he had emigrated from Asia to the Britain at the period of seven, and had been brought up experiencing and living two backgrounds. He continued to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that a single person can function as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can somehow transfer the qualities of a English gentleman upon a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"In my experience, engaging a typically English tutor from infancy will not necessarily create the result they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to experience numerous of the situations they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, cultural identity can not be dictated from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Of course, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the fact that the international society regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
