"A household based in the northern part of London is looking for an extraordinary and qualified educator to support their smallest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might readily skip the wording "first-steps" as just figurative language.
Yet, it may be the most significant part of this unusual job advert, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of submissions have now been submitted since the unnamed family posted their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted attention across the news, with many wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their quest, explained that in spite of first doubt, he found the idea "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they appreciated the unusual nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already set in".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the older sibling had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family explained to him they hoped to prevent history to happen again with their new baby.
The intention: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the development at the start here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's via this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.
He said the tutor must be someone who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator must be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
More than that though, he explained the family desired the tutor to register the child on a range of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about success and provide access.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
Yet, despite all this tutelage in "UK identity", would the child adopt so-called cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he resides with in any case?
"Absolutely", said Adam. "The family realize this might not succeed, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he explained.
Impractical
A number of in the private teaching field who have those reservations.
An education leader, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who supplies private tutors, wrote that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had relocated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of childhood, and had been raised understanding and living both cultures. He progressed to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that an individual can function as a embodiment of Britishness, someone who can in some way impart the characteristics of a English gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"Based on my background, having a quintessentially English tutor from babyhood will does not necessarily achieve the result they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and however I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, self-identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, Britishness is something Adam hopes can be taught – and commercialized.
"In my view the fact that the global community regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
