"A household located in north London seeks an remarkable and skilled instructor to support their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might easily overlook the wording "first-steps" as just an expression.
Yet, it might be the most significant aspect of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to find a teacher for a infant.
Many of responses have since been submitted since the unnamed family posted their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained notice throughout the press, with many wondering why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, head and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, stated that despite initial skepticism, he found the idea "visionary", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he noted they recognized the atypical character of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
But, they clarified that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural influence had by then become established".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He said the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to him they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their infant.
The intention: To engage a UK tutor, who should speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the learning at the start here is rather osmotic," said the CEO.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.
He explained the tutor needed to be someone who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the chosen tutor should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in equestrian activities, winter sports, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Furthermore though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son become a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and provide access.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
But, in spite of all this tutelage in "English culture", could the child pick up what is termed cultural influence from the globally influenced family he resides with anyway?
"Absolutely", answered he. "They understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who express those reservations.
Peter Cui, head and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer individual instructors, stated that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
The expert explained that he had moved from the Far East to the Britain at the period of childhood, and had been brought up understanding and practicing two backgrounds. He went on to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that one individual can act as a living vessel of Britishness, a person who can possibly impart the characteristics of a English gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, appears naive and impractical," he commented.
"In my experience, engaging a distinctly English tutor from babyhood will not necessarily achieve the goal they want.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to experience several of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, Britishness is something Adam believes can be taught – and marketed.
"In my view the fact that the global community views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
