"A family located in north London seeks an exceptional and experienced educator to guide their youngest child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might easily skip the phrase "first-steps" as simple figurative language.
Yet, it could be the most important element of this unique position posting, as it aims to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of responses have now been received since the anonymous family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the post has received attention in the media, with many wondering why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding initial doubt, he considered the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he noted they understood the unusual character of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
But, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had by then set in".
What exactly does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the firstborn had absorbed "really subtle, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the education at the beginning here is kind of osmotic," explained the CEO.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they want to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should preferably also have familiarity of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he said the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will result in achievement and open doors.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
Yet, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", might the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the globally influenced family he resides with in any case?
"Certainly", replied he. "The family know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the tutoring industry who express these doubts.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He noted that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been educated knowing and practicing both cultures. He progressed to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a representation of English culture, a person who can possibly transplant the characteristics of a British gentleman to a infant child, appears naive and unrealistic," he wrote.
"Based on my background, employing a distinctly English tutor from early childhood will will not automatically create the goal they want.
"I never had such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience numerous of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity can not be forced from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Certainly, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be educated – and sold.
"In my view the reality that the global community regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
