"A household residing in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and skilled instructor to assist their youngest child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might easily skip the phrase "first-steps" as just figurative language.
But, it may be the most important aspect of this distinctive position posting, as it attempts to recruit a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of responses have already been sent in since the anonymous family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the post has attracted attention in the press, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that in spite of initial skepticism, he viewed the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he said they appreciated the atypical nature of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already taken hold".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", he answered. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the elder child had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family told Adam they did not want history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the development at the beginning here is rather osmotic," explained Adam.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they wish to instil.
The consultant said the tutor had to be somebody who attended "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator must be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to Adam the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, skiing, the arts and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he stated the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son become a "British gentleman" will result in achievement and provide access.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he comments.
But, in spite of all this instruction in "UK identity", could the child absorb so-called cultural influence from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", replied Adam. "The family understand this could fail, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'we should try and we should start as early as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who share similar doubts.
Peter Cui, head and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies private tutors, commented that "the process of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert explained that he had emigrated from Asia to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been educated experiencing and practicing dual heritages. He continued to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The notion that an individual can act as a living vessel of UK identity, someone who can possibly impart the characteristics of a English gentleman to a infant child, strikes me as optimistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"In my experience, having a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will does not necessarily achieve the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to experience several of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, self-identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, UK identity is something Adam thinks can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the situation that the global community views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
