"Parents located in North London wants to find an extraordinary and qualified educator to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might readily overlook the wording "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
However, it may be the most important element of this unique job advert, as it aims to recruit a tutor for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have since been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the post has gained interest in the press, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their hunt, explained that notwithstanding initial skepticism, he considered the concept "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional character of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural bias had by then taken hold".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", the expert answered. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family explained to him they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is somewhat acquired indirectly," said Adam.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will adopt the English characteristics they want to impart.
Adam said the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator must be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Money No Object
The family informed him the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in riding, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he comments.
Yet, despite all this tutelage in "English culture", might the child adopt so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", replied the CEO. "The family realize this could fail, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who share similar doubts.
Another CEO, chief executive of Blue Education, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the development of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
The expert wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of childhood, and had been raised knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that a single person can act as a representation of Britishness, someone who can in some way transplant the characteristics of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, appears optimistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly UK tutor from early childhood will does not automatically create the goal they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and however I have been lucky enough to enjoy many of the experiences they hope for their son."
He added: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the global community regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
