"A family residing in North London is looking for an extraordinary and experienced educator to support their most junior child on his early path to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily skip the term "first-steps" as mere figurative language.
But, it may be the most significant element of this distinctive job advert, as it aims to hire a teacher for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have now been sent in since the anonymous family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the listing has attracted interest throughout the news, with numerous wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their search, said that despite early skepticism, he viewed the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he said they understood the atypical character of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained 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 stage "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the elder child had adopted "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family informed the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To engage a UK tutor, who should speak with RP, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the development at the outset here is rather acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to instil.
The consultant explained the tutor must be someone who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in riding, skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a diverse set of passions.
Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to register the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "British gentleman" will bring about success and open doors.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he notes.
However, despite all this instruction in "English culture", would the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?
"Absolutely", replied Adam. "They know this may not work, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the private teaching field who have similar reservations.
Another CEO, chief executive of an educational organization, who also offer private tutors, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
The expert explained that he had moved from China to the Britain at the period of childhood, and had been brought up knowing and living dual heritages. He progressed to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can act as a representation of Britishness, a person who can possibly transplant the qualities of a UK sophisticate onto a infant child, strikes me as naive and unfeasible," he wrote.
"Based on my background, having a typically British tutor from early childhood will will not automatically produce the outcome they want.
"I never had such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He added: "The reality is, personal identity should not be forced from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, Britishness is something the expert thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the global community views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
