"A household located in North London is looking for an exceptional and qualified instructor to support their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might naturally skip the wording "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
But, it may be the most significant aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it seeks to recruit a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of submissions have already been received since the anonymous family posted their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has received attention throughout the press, with many questioning why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, said that despite initial scepticism, he found the concept "visionary", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they understood the unusual character of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
However, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already set in".
But what did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", he responded. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the elder child had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family told Adam they hoped to prevent the same situation to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to influence the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the start here is kind of acquired indirectly," explained Adam.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the British traits they aim to cultivate.
Adam noted the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told Adam the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or passion in equestrian activities, skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an tool by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son develop into a "British gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
Yet, notwithstanding all this guidance in "Britishness", might the child adopt alleged cultural leaning from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", replied Adam. "The family know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as early as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who express these concerns.
An education leader, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who also offer personal educators, stated that "the process of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
Peter wrote that he had relocated from China to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and practicing both cultures. He went on to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that a single person can function as a living vessel of Britishness, an individual who can somehow transplant the qualities of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, employing a distinctly British tutor from infancy will will not automatically produce the goal they desire.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they desire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, personal identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"In my view the reality that the international society regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating