"A household based in north London seeks an remarkable and qualified instructor to assist their smallest child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might readily miss the phrase "first-steps" as simple an expression.
However, it may be the crucial aspect of this unique position posting, as it aims to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Numerous of submissions have now been sent in since the anonymous family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the listing has gained interest throughout the news, with several wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that despite initial scepticism, he considered the concept "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they appreciated the unusual character of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
However, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already set in".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert answered. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family explained to him they hoped to prevent the same situation to recur with their infant.
The plan: To bring in a UK tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the education at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," explained the CEO.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will adopt the English characteristics they wish to instil.
Adam explained the tutor had to be somebody who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family told the expert the chosen tutor should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in riding, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "British gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he adds.
However, in spite of all this instruction in "UK identity", could the child pick up so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with regardless?
"Absolutely", answered the CEO. "The family know this might not succeed, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the tutoring industry who share those concerns.
An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who also offer individual instructors, commented that "the development of becoming bicultural, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
He wrote that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been raised understanding and living both cultures. He went on to be educated at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can function as a living vessel of UK identity, an individual who can possibly impart the characteristics of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"In my experience, having a typically English tutor from early childhood will does not automatically create the outcome they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they hope for their son."
He stated: "The truth is, self-identity should not be dictated from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, Britishness is something the CEO believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I think the situation that the world regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
