"A household located in North London seeks an remarkable and qualified instructor to assist their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might naturally miss the wording "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
However, it may be the most significant part of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to recruit a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have already been submitted since the anonymous family advertised their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the post has gained notice in the news, with numerous asking why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their hunt, stated that despite first skepticism, he viewed the idea "visionary", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he mentioned they understood the unusual aspect of their demand, and how young their son is.
However, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already set in".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert responded. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family told him they did not want the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To engage a British tutor, who must speak with RP, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is kind of absorbed naturally," said the CEO.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to impart.
The consultant said the tutor must be someone who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator must be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and musical activities so as to influence the child in a diverse set of interests.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will result in success and open doors.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "English culture", could the child pick up so-called cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Absolutely", replied Adam. "The parents realize this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the education sector who share similar reservations.
Peter Cui, head and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies individual instructors, commented that "the process of becoming bicultural, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
He noted that he had relocated from Asia to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated knowing and practicing dual heritages. He progressed to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The idea that an individual can act as a living vessel of English culture, someone who can somehow impart the characteristics of a British gentleman onto a infant child, strikes me as optimistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"From my perspective, engaging a typically British tutor from infancy will will not necessarily produce the result they desire.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, self-identity should not be dictated from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the situation that the world views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
