"Parents located in north London is looking for an exceptional and skilled educator to assist their most junior child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might readily miss the wording "first-steps" as just an expression.
Yet, it could be the most significant element of this distinctive job advert, as it attempts to find a mentor for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have already been sent in since the unnamed family advertised their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the post has attracted interest across the media, with many wondering why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their search, stated that despite early doubt, he considered the plan "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they understood the unusual nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.
But, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", he responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the older sibling had absorbed "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family told Adam they hoped to prevent this pattern to happen again with their infant.
The strategy: To hire a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is rather absorbed naturally," said Adam.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to cultivate.
He said the tutor had to be someone who studied at "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to him the chosen tutor should preferably also have knowledge of or interest in riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Furthermore though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an 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 achievement and create opportunities.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", would the child absorb so-called cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", replied Adam. "The family know this may not work, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the education sector who have these reservations.
An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, commented that "the process of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
The expert wrote that he had emigrated from the Far East to the UK at the period of 7 years old, and had been educated knowing and practicing both cultures. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The idea that an individual can function as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can in some way transfer the characteristics of a English gentleman onto a infant child, appears naive and impractical," he wrote.
"In my experience, having a typically British tutor from early childhood will not instantly produce the result they desire.
"I did not have such a figure, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to live many of the situations they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, self-identity can not be dictated from the outside; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be instructed – and sold.
"I think the reality that the global community holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
