"A family located in North London is looking for an remarkable and qualified tutor to support their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might easily overlook the term "first-steps" as simple an expression.
But, it may be the most important part of this distinctive employment listing, as it seeks to recruit a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have since been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the post has attracted notice across the media, with numerous questioning why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, said that despite initial doubt, he found the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the unusual aspect of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
However, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had by then become established".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", he responded. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the elder child had absorbed "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to Adam they did not want this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The plan: To bring in a UK tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the development at the outset here is somewhat acquired indirectly," explained Adam.
It's through this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they wish to impart.
The consultant said the tutor needed to be somebody who studied at "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to Adam the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he explained the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and open doors.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", could the child adopt what is termed cultural leaning from the international family he is raised by anyway?
"Yes", said he. "The parents understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the tutoring industry who have those doubts.
Peter Cui, head and founder of Blue Education, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the development of becoming bicultural, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
The expert noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of childhood, and had been educated experiencing and practicing dual heritages. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that a single person can serve as a living vessel of English culture, an individual who can somehow transfer the qualities of a English gentleman upon a infant child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will not necessarily produce the result they want.
"I never had such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience several of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity can not be dictated from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be taught – and commercialized.
"In my view the reality that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
