"A family based in North London wants to find an exceptional and skilled educator to assist their most junior child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might naturally skip the wording "first-steps" as mere figurative language.
But, it might be the crucial part of this distinctive position posting, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of responses have now been received since the anonymous family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the listing has received notice across the press, with numerous asking why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that despite early skepticism, he considered the plan "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he noted they recognized the atypical nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", he answered. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the elder child had adopted "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family told the consultant they wished to avoid this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a British tutor, who must speak with RP, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the development at the start here is kind of acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to cultivate.
Adam said the tutor needed to be an individual who studied at "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor must be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family informed the expert the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
More than that though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "English gentleman" will lead to achievement and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
But, despite all this guidance in "UK identity", could the child adopt what is termed cultural bias from the globally influenced family he resides with regardless?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "The family understand this could fail, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who express similar doubts.
An education leader, chief executive of an educational organization, who also offer private tutors, commented that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
The expert explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the period of seven, and had been educated knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He progressed to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can act as a embodiment of English culture, an individual who can in some way transfer the qualities of a English gentleman to a 12-month-old child, seems to me naive and impractical," he commented.
"Based on my background, employing a typically English tutor from infancy will will not necessarily produce the result they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy many of the experiences they hope for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, Britishness is something the expert believes can be educated – and sold.
"I think the fact that the global community views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
