"A household based in north London seeks an remarkable and skilled instructor to guide their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might naturally overlook the term "first-steps" as mere an expression.
Yet, it may be the most significant aspect of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of submissions have now been submitted since the unnamed family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted interest across the news, with several questioning why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that notwithstanding first scepticism, he considered the concept "visionary", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical nature of their request, and how young their son is.
However, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", he answered. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the older sibling had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family informed the consultant they did not want the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The intention: To engage a English tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the development at the outset here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained the CEO.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the British traits they want to impart.
He said the tutor needed to be an individual who attended "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator must be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
Additionally though, he stated 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 around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about success and provide access.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he notes.
But, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", might the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Certainly", said he. "The parents realize this may not work, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the private teaching field who have those concerns.
An education leader, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
The expert explained that he had relocated from China to the UK at the time of 7 years old, and had been raised understanding and living both cultures. He progressed to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that one individual can act as a living vessel of UK identity, someone who can in some way transplant the attributes of a British gentleman to a infant child, appears idealistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"From my perspective, having a typically UK tutor from babyhood will will not necessarily produce the goal they want.
"I never had such a figure, and however I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the situations they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, self-identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Of course, Britishness is something the expert believes can be taught – and marketed.
"In my view the fact that the international society holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
