"Parents located in North London wants to find an remarkable and qualified educator to support their most junior child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the term "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it may be the most significant part of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of responses have since been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has attracted notice in the news, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their quest, said that despite initial skepticism, he considered the concept "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional nature of their request, and how immature their son is.
But, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told Adam they did not want the same situation to recur with their infant.
The intention: To bring in a UK tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to influence the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the learning at the beginning here is rather absorbed naturally," said the CEO.
It's via this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will acquire the British traits they wish to instil.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed him the successful candidate should preferably also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a wide range of hobbies.
More than that though, he explained the family desired the tutor to register the child on a variety 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 minds, guiding their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he comments.
Yet, in spite of all this tutelage in "UK identity", could the child pick up what is termed cultural influence from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Yes", replied he. "They know this could fail, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the private teaching field who share these concerns.
An education leader, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
The expert noted that he had relocated from China to the UK at the age of seven, and had been brought up experiencing and living two backgrounds. He went on to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that an individual can function as a embodiment of UK identity, someone who can in some way impart the qualities of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, appears idealistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"From my perspective, having a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will does not instantly achieve the result they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the situations they hope for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, personal identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, English culture is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the international society holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
