"Parents residing in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and experienced educator to guide their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily overlook the term "first-steps" as just an expression.
Yet, it may be the crucial element of this unique position posting, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of responses have already been submitted since the anonymous family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the listing has received attention throughout the news, with several asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, stated that in spite of first scepticism, he viewed the concept "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they recognized the unusual aspect of their request, and how immature their son is.
However, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already set in".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam replied. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family explained to him they did not want this pattern to happen again with their younger child.
The strategy: To bring in a UK tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the learning at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will acquire the UK customs they want to instil.
He said the tutor must be someone who went to "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to him the chosen tutor should preferably also have understanding of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Additionally 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 picking up an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.
But, in spite of all this tutelage in "English culture", would the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the international family he is raised by in any case?
"Yes", said Adam. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who share those doubts.
An education leader, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who provides private tutors, stated that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
Peter wrote that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the period of childhood, and had been brought up knowing and practicing dual heritages. He progressed to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that one individual can function as a living vessel of Britishness, someone who can somehow transfer the qualities of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from infancy will will not instantly achieve the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience several of the situations they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity cannot be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, English culture is something the CEO believes can be taught – and sold.
"In my view the reality that the global community views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
