"Parents based in the northern part of London seeks an exceptional and qualified tutor to guide their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally skip the term "first-steps" as just figurative language.
Yet, it might be the most important part of this distinctive job advert, as it seeks to find a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of responses have now been sent in since the unnamed family advertised their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the listing has attracted notice in the press, with several wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, explained that notwithstanding early doubt, he viewed the concept "visionary", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they recognized the atypical aspect of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had by then set in".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He stated the elder child had adopted "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told Adam they did not want this pattern to happen again with their new baby.
The intention: To bring in a UK tutor, who should speak with RP, to guide the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is kind of osmotic," said the expert.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will adopt the English characteristics they want to impart.
He noted the tutor must be an individual who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told Adam the successful candidate should preferably also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in riding, winter sports, the arts and music so as to influence the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he explained the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he adds.
Yet, in spite of all this instruction in "English culture", would the child absorb what is termed cultural influence from the globally influenced family he resides with in any case?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "The parents understand this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted 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.
Impractical
There are some in the education sector who share those doubts.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who provides private tutors, commented that "the process of becoming bicultural, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had emigrated from China to the United Kingdom at the time of childhood, and had been brought up knowing and practicing two backgrounds. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can function as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can in some way transplant the qualities of a English gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"From my perspective, employing a typically English tutor from infancy will will not automatically achieve the result they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to live several of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity should not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, English culture is something the expert believes can be educated – and sold.
"I believe the fact that the global community holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
