"Parents located in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and qualified instructor to guide their youngest child on his initial journey to growing into an English gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might readily skip the phrase "first-steps" as mere figurative language.
But, it could be the most important aspect of this unusual employment listing, as it seeks to find a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of submissions have since been submitted since the anonymous family published their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted interest in the press, with numerous questioning why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their hunt, explained that despite early scepticism, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they appreciated the unusual aspect of their demand, and how immature their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", he responded. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the elder child had picked up "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a UK tutor, who must speak with RP, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the start here is somewhat acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the British traits they wish to impart.
He noted the tutor must be an individual who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Money No Object
The family told him the chosen tutor should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in riding, skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son develop into a "British gentleman" will bring about success and open doors.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he adds.
However, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", could the child adopt so-called cultural leaning from the international family he is raised by in any case?
"Yes", said Adam. "The family understand this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the education sector who express those concerns.
An education leader, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
Peter wrote that he had moved from China to the UK at the age of seven, and had been raised knowing and practicing dual heritages. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The notion that one individual can act as a embodiment of English culture, an individual who can in some way impart the qualities of a English gentleman upon a infant child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a typically British tutor from infancy will not automatically achieve the outcome they desire.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to experience many of the situations they hope for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, self-identity cannot be forced from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, English culture is something the expert believes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I think the fact that the international society regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
