"A family located in the northern part of London wants to find an exceptional and qualified instructor to guide their smallest child on his early path to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might naturally miss the term "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it could be the most important aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to recruit a teacher for a infant.
Many of responses have since been received since the anonymous family advertised their call for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted notice across the news, with numerous asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their hunt, stated that notwithstanding early skepticism, he considered the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the unusual character of their request, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already taken hold".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", he responded. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is kind of osmotic," explained Adam.
It's via this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to impart.
The consultant said the tutor needed to be someone who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a wide range of interests.
More than that though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son grow into a "British gentleman" will bring about success and provide access.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
Yet, in spite of all this tutelage in "UK identity", could the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the international family he is raised by in any case?
"Yes", said the CEO. "The family realize this could fail, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the education sector who share these reservations.
An education leader, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, wrote that "the process of becoming bicultural, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had emigrated from Asia to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been raised understanding and living both cultures. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that one individual can serve as a living vessel of English culture, an individual who can somehow impart the qualities of a English gentleman upon a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially English tutor from infancy will does not automatically create the result they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and however I have been privileged enough to experience numerous of the experiences they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO hopes can be taught – and commercialized.
"In my view the situation that the international society regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
