"A family residing in North London seeks an remarkable and skilled tutor to support their youngest child on his early path to becoming an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might naturally miss the term "first-steps" as just an expression.
But, it might be the most significant aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it seeks to hire a tutor for a infant.
Many of submissions have now been received since the unidentified family published their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the listing has attracted attention in the news, with many wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their hunt, said that in spite of early skepticism, he viewed the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they understood the unconventional nature of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already become established".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", he responded. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He stated the elder child had absorbed "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family told him they did not want this pattern to happen again with their younger child.
The intention: To bring in a UK tutor, who must speak with RP, to influence the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the learning at the start here is rather acquired indirectly," said the expert.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will pick up the English characteristics they aim to instil.
Adam said the tutor had to be somebody who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to him the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in riding, skiing, the arts and music so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "British gentleman" will result in achievement and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", would the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Certainly", replied he. "The family know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he stated.
Impractical
A number of in the education sector who share those concerns.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, commented that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had moved from China to the Britain at the period of seven, and had been brought up knowing and living dual heritages. He continued to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that a single person can function as a embodiment of English culture, a person who can possibly transplant the qualities of a English gentleman to a 12-month-old child, seems to me idealistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"In my experience, employing a distinctly British tutor from babyhood will not automatically achieve the result they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to experience numerous of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, cultural identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something Adam believes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"In my view the reality that the world views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
