"A family residing in north London wants to find an remarkable and qualified instructor to assist their youngest child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might easily skip the wording "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
Yet, it might be the crucial element of this unusual employment listing, as it seeks to hire a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of submissions have now been sent in since the unnamed family published their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
During the past few weeks, the post has attracted interest in the news, with several questioning why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, chief executive of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding first doubt, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he said they appreciated the atypical character of their request, and how young their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert replied. "How you eat, how you speak".
He stated the older sibling had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told him they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is kind of acquired indirectly," stated Adam.
It's via this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to instil.
He said the tutor needed to be an individual who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family plan 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, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to Adam the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or interest in horse riding, alpine skiing, the arts and music so as to influence the child in a diverse set of interests.
Additionally though, he said the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a range of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will result in accomplishment and provide access.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he comments.
Yet, despite all this tutelage in "English culture", could the child adopt alleged cultural bias from the globally influenced family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", answered the CEO. "The family realize this might not succeed, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as soon as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who share those reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer personal educators, wrote that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
Peter noted that he had relocated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated understanding and living dual heritages. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The notion that one individual can function as a representation of Britishness, an individual who can in some way transfer the characteristics of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, seems to me idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a typically UK tutor from infancy will will not automatically create the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and however I have been fortunate enough to experience numerous of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Of course, Britishness is something the expert hopes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I think the situation that the world regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
