"Parents located in the northern part of London seeks an exceptional and skilled educator to support their most junior child on his first steps to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might readily skip the term "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it may be the most important element of this distinctive position posting, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have now been sent in since the unnamed family advertised their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the advert has received interest in the media, with numerous asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their hunt, said that notwithstanding initial skepticism, he viewed the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he mentioned they recognized the unusual nature of their request, and how early in age 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 exactly did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", he responded. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the firstborn had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed the consultant they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a UK tutor, who must speak with RP, to influence the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the development at the start here is kind of osmotic," stated Adam.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to instil.
He explained the tutor had to be an individual who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator must be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of passions.
Furthermore though, he explained the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will result in success and create opportunities.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
But, notwithstanding all this guidance in "UK identity", might the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the international family he lives with regardless?
"Yes", answered Adam. "The parents understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as soon as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who express those doubts.
Another CEO, head and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer private tutors, commented that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
He noted that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the time of seven, and had been brought up knowing and practicing both cultures. He went on to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that a single person can function as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can in some way transfer the attributes of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and impractical," he stated.
"In my experience, employing a typically British tutor from babyhood will not necessarily create the outcome they want.
"I did not have such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience many of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, self-identity should not be dictated from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, English culture is something Adam hopes can be taught – and sold.
"I believe the fact that the international society views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
