"A family located in North London is looking for an exceptional and skilled educator to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might easily skip the wording "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
Yet, it may be the crucial aspect of this unique job advert, as it attempts to hire a tutor for a infant.
Many of responses have since been received since the unnamed family published their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the post has gained interest across the media, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their search, explained that notwithstanding early doubt, he viewed the concept "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he said they recognized the unusual character of their request, and how early in age their son is.
However, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", he answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had adopted "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family told Adam they wished to avoid history to happen again with their new baby.
The plan: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the beginning here is kind of osmotic," stated the CEO.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to instil.
The consultant said the tutor had to be somebody who went to "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to Adam the successful candidate should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in equestrian activities, winter sports, the arts and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and learning 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 bring about success and provide access.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
But, notwithstanding all this guidance in "UK identity", could the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Absolutely", replied the CEO. "The parents understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who share similar reservations.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
He noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up knowing and living dual heritages. He continued to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that an individual can act as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can somehow transfer the attributes of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will will not instantly produce the result they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live several of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity should not be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, Britishness is something the CEO believes can be taught – and marketed.
"In my view the fact that the world views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
