"A household based in north London is looking for an exceptional and experienced instructor to support their youngest child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might easily skip the wording "first-steps" as just figurative language.
Yet, it might be the most significant aspect of this unique job advert, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a infant.
Hundreds of submissions have already been submitted since the anonymous family posted their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received notice across the press, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, CEO and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their hunt, said that notwithstanding early skepticism, he considered the plan "visionary", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they understood the unusual character of their requirement, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already set in".
But what does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", the expert responded. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He said the firstborn had picked up "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To bring in a UK tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the outset here is somewhat absorbed naturally," stated Adam.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will pick up the British traits they wish to instil.
He noted the tutor had to be somebody who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed him the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a wide range of interests.
Furthermore though, he said the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he notes.
Yet, in spite of all this tutelage in "English culture", could the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Absolutely", answered Adam. "The family understand this may not work, but they've just taken the view of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he said.
Impractical
Several in the education sector who share those reservations.
Peter Cui, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, stated that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
The expert explained that he had emigrated from Asia to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and practicing dual heritages. He went on to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that one individual can function as a embodiment of English culture, a person who can in some way impart the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a infant child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will does not automatically achieve the result they want.
"I never had such a tutor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, personal identity cannot be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the CEO hopes can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the world views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
