"Parents residing in North London wants to find an remarkable and qualified tutor to support their youngest child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might easily skip the phrase "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
However, it might be the most significant element of this unique job advert, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a one-year-old.
Many of applications have now been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the advert has received notice in the media, with numerous asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their search, explained that in spite of initial skepticism, he found the concept "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional character of their request, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already set in".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", the expert replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family informed him they did not want this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who should speak with RP, to influence the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they want to instil.
He explained the tutor must be an individual who went to "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should preferably also have knowledge of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
More than that though, he said the family desired the tutor to register the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will bring about achievement and create opportunities.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he comments.
But, notwithstanding all this guidance in "Britishness", could the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he lives with regardless?
"Yes", said the CEO. "They know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who express these reservations.
An education leader, chief executive of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, stated that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
Peter wrote that he had moved from China to the UK at the time of seven, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying dual heritages. He progressed to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that a single person can act as a living vessel of Britishness, a person who can somehow transfer the characteristics of a UK sophisticate onto a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"Based on my background, employing a typically British tutor from infancy will does not automatically produce the outcome they want.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been privileged enough to live several of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, personal identity cannot be imposed from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, English culture is something the expert hopes can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the situation that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
