"A family based in North London is looking for an extraordinary and qualified instructor to support their most junior child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might naturally skip the phrase "first-steps" as just figurative language.
Yet, it might be the most important element of this unusual job advert, as it attempts to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of submissions have now been received since the unidentified family published their call for the highly paid tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has received notice throughout the news, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that despite first skepticism, he considered the concept "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he said they appreciated the atypical character of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had by then become established".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the older sibling had picked up "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family explained to the consultant they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To engage a English tutor, who must speak with RP, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is rather acquired indirectly," said the expert.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they wish to cultivate.
Adam explained the tutor must be an individual who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told the expert the successful candidate should preferably also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in horse riding, skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he stated the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he adds.
But, notwithstanding all this instruction in "UK identity", could the child absorb alleged cultural influence from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "The family know this may not work, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the education sector who have these concerns.
An education leader, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, stated that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and practicing both cultures. He went on to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that a single person can act as a embodiment of English culture, a person who can in some way impart the attributes of a English gentleman upon a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"In my experience, engaging a quintessentially UK tutor from early childhood will does not automatically achieve the goal they want.
"I did not have such a figure, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to experience several of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, personal identity should not be dictated from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam believes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I think the situation that the world holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
