"A family based in the northern part of London seeks an remarkable and qualified educator to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the term "first-steps" as just an expression.
But, it may be the most significant element of this unusual employment listing, as it aims to find a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have already been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the listing has gained interest in the media, with several questioning why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their search, said that notwithstanding early scepticism, he considered the idea "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they understood the unconventional nature of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", he answered. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He explained the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid history to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the start here is somewhat acquired indirectly," explained the CEO.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will pick up the British traits they aim to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor must be an individual who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Money No Object
The family explained to him the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in horse riding, alpine skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he comments.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", would the child adopt what is termed cultural bias from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", said Adam. "The family know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who express these concerns.
Another CEO, chief executive of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, wrote that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
The expert explained that he had moved from China to the Britain at the time of childhood, and had been brought up understanding and embodying dual heritages. He progressed to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that a single person can serve as a living vessel of UK identity, a person who can possibly transplant the qualities of a UK sophisticate upon a infant child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he wrote.
"In my experience, engaging a distinctly English tutor from infancy will will not instantly produce the goal they want.
"I did not have such a tutor, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to live several of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, cultural identity should not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Of course, Britishness is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and commercialized.
"In my view the reality that the world views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
