"A household based in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and qualified instructor to support their smallest child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily skip the wording "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the crucial element of this unique employment listing, as it seeks to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of responses have now been sent in since the anonymous family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has attracted attention across the press, with numerous questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding early doubt, he viewed the idea "visionary", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he noted they understood the unusual aspect of their demand, 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 elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already become established".
But what does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid this pattern to happen again with their new baby.
The intention: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the beginning here is somewhat acquired indirectly," explained Adam.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the British traits they want to impart.
He explained the tutor must be an individual who studied at "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Money No Object
The family informed him the chosen tutor should preferably also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in horse riding, winter sports, creative fields and music so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will result in success and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he adds.
But, notwithstanding all this instruction in "UK identity", might the child adopt alleged cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", answered the CEO. "The family know this may not work, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the education sector who share similar concerns.
Peter Cui, head and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies personal educators, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
The expert explained that he had moved from Asia to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been educated knowing and practicing both cultures. He went on to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that an individual can function as a embodiment of UK identity, an individual who can possibly transfer the attributes of a British gentleman upon a infant child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"In my experience, employing a typically UK tutor from babyhood will not automatically produce the goal they want.
"I never had such a tutor, and yet I have been privileged enough to live many of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, cultural identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO believes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I believe the situation that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
