"A family located in north London is looking for an exceptional and qualified tutor to guide their smallest child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might easily miss the term "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the crucial element of this unique position posting, as it seeks to hire a teacher for a infant.
Many of applications have now been received since the anonymous family published their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the listing has received interest throughout the news, with many questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that notwithstanding early skepticism, he viewed the idea "visionary", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he noted they appreciated the atypical nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam responded. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He said the firstborn had picked up "extremely delicate, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family informed him they did not want the same situation to happen again with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is kind of osmotic," stated Adam.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be somebody who attended "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should preferably also have familiarity of or passion in horse riding, alpine skiing, the arts and music so as to shape the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he stated the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a range of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will bring about achievement and create opportunities.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
But, notwithstanding all this instruction in "UK identity", might the child pick up alleged cultural bias from the international family he is raised by in any case?
"Absolutely", answered he. "The parents realize this may not work, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he said.
Impractical
Several in the tutoring industry who share these reservations.
Another CEO, chief executive of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
He explained that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the period of 7 years old, and had been educated experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that a single person can function as a representation of English culture, someone who can somehow impart the qualities of a UK sophisticate upon a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly English tutor from babyhood will not automatically achieve the outcome they want.
"I never had such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to live many of the situations they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, self-identity can not be forced from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, Britishness is something the expert thinks can be educated – and marketed.
"In my view the reality that the global community views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
