"A household located in north London wants to find an exceptional and skilled educator to assist their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the phrase "first-steps" as just figurative language.
However, it may be the most significant aspect of this unique position posting, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Many of responses have already been received since the unidentified family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received notice across the press, with numerous wondering why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, stated that in spite of early scepticism, he found the plan "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unusual nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.
But, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already become established".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", Adam replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the firstborn had picked up "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they did not want this pattern to happen again with their new baby.
The strategy: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the education at the outset here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's through this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will adopt the British traits they wish to cultivate.
The consultant explained the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family informed the expert the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "UK sophisticate" will result in achievement and create opportunities.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he comments.
However, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "Britishness", would the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Yes", said the CEO. "The parents realize this may not work, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as early as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he stated.
Impractical
Several in the education sector who have these concerns.
Peter Cui, chief executive of an educational organization, who also offer individual instructors, stated that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
The expert noted that he had moved from Asia to the United Kingdom at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He progressed to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that one individual can act as a representation of Britishness, an individual who can possibly transplant the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, engaging a typically British tutor from babyhood will does not automatically achieve the result they hope for.
"I did not have such a tutor, and however I have been lucky enough to experience numerous of the situations they hope for their son."
He added: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be educated – and sold.
"I think the situation that the global community regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
