"A family based in north London wants to find an extraordinary and skilled instructor to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily miss the wording "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the most significant aspect of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to find a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have now been submitted since the anonymous family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has received interest in the media, with numerous wondering why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, chief executive of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their hunt, said that in spite of early scepticism, he viewed the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they recognized the atypical character of their request, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already become established".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam replied. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the firstborn had adopted "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family told Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The plan: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the education at the start here is rather acquired indirectly," stated Adam.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will pick up the British traits they want to cultivate.
Adam said the tutor must be someone who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told the expert the successful candidate should preferably also have understanding of or enthusiasm in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and music so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", could the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by anyway?
"Yes", replied Adam. "They know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'we should try and we should start as early as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he said.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who share those concerns.
An education leader, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the process of becoming bicultural, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
Peter explained that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been educated knowing and embodying dual heritages. He continued to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can function as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can in some way impart the qualities of a British gentleman upon a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"In my experience, having a distinctly English tutor from infancy will not automatically produce the result they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to experience several of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, cultural identity should not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam hopes can be educated – and sold.
"I think the fact that the global community holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
