"A family residing in North London is looking for an remarkable and experienced tutor to support their youngest child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might easily overlook the term "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
However, it may be the crucial part of this distinctive job advert, as it aims to find a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have since been sent in since the unnamed family published their search for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received attention across the press, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, head and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their hunt, said that in spite of initial doubt, he viewed the plan "visionary", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he noted they understood the unusual nature of their request, and how immature their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then set in".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He said the firstborn had adopted "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed him they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To bring in a British tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the start here is somewhat osmotic," said Adam.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to impart.
He said the tutor must be an individual who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told him the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, winter sports, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Additionally though, he explained the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will lead to success and open doors.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he adds.
However, notwithstanding all this instruction in "Britishness", might the child pick up what is termed cultural leaning from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", replied Adam. "They know this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he stated.
Impractical
Several in the tutoring industry who have those reservations.
Another CEO, chief executive of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
Peter wrote that he had emigrated from Asia to the Britain at the time of seven, and had been raised knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He progressed to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that an individual can function as a embodiment of Britishness, an individual who can somehow transplant the attributes of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a typically English tutor from early childhood will will not instantly achieve the outcome they want.
"I never had such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something the CEO thinks can be taught – and commercialized.
"In my view the situation that the world regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
