"A family based in North London wants to find an extraordinary and experienced instructor to support their most junior child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the wording "first-steps" as just figurative language.
However, it may be the most important element of this unusual employment listing, as it seeks to hire a teacher for a infant.
Numerous of submissions have now been sent in since the unnamed family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained notice across the press, with many wondering why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their search, said that in spite of early doubt, he viewed the idea "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he said they recognized the atypical character of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already become established".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their infant.
The plan: To engage a English tutor, who should speak with RP, to shape the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," stated Adam.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will acquire the British traits they wish to impart.
He said the tutor must be somebody who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to him the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in riding, winter sports, the arts and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of passions.
Furthermore though, he explained the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son grow into a "British gentleman" will lead to achievement and open doors.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
But, notwithstanding all this instruction in "UK identity", would the child pick up what is termed cultural influence from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Certainly", answered Adam. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who express similar doubts.
An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies individual instructors, wrote that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
He noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the age of childhood, and had been raised knowing and embodying dual heritages. He progressed to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that an individual can serve as a representation of English culture, an individual who can possibly transfer the qualities of a UK sophisticate upon a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will not instantly achieve the outcome they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to live several of the experiences they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be taught – and sold.
"I think the situation that the global community regards us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
