"A household located in the northern part of London seeks an remarkable and skilled educator to guide their youngest child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might readily skip the wording "first-steps" as just figurative language.
But, it could be the crucial aspect of this unique employment listing, as it seeks to find a mentor for a infant.
Many of responses have already been submitted since the anonymous family advertised their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has attracted attention throughout the press, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that in spite of early skepticism, he found the plan "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he said they understood the atypical aspect of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
But, they explained 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 point "cultural bias had by then set in".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", Adam replied. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the older sibling had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the development at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the UK customs they wish to instil.
He noted the tutor had to be somebody who attended "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in horse riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
However, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", would the child adopt alleged cultural influence from the globally influenced family he lives with regardless?
"Yes", replied Adam. "They understand this may not work, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the private teaching field who share similar reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who provides private tutors, commented that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had moved from China to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been brought up understanding and practicing dual heritages. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that one individual can act as a living vessel of UK identity, an individual who can in some way transfer the characteristics of a UK sophisticate onto a 12-month-old child, appears optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, employing a distinctly British tutor from early childhood will does not automatically achieve the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to enjoy many of the situations they aspire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, cultural identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something Adam believes can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the global community holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
