"A family based in the northern part of London seeks an exceptional and experienced instructor to guide their most junior child on his early path to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally skip the term "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
However, it may be the crucial aspect of this unusual position posting, as it aims to hire a tutor for a infant.
Numerous of applications have already been received since the unidentified family published their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the listing has attracted interest throughout the media, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their quest, explained that despite initial scepticism, he viewed the idea "visionary", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they recognized the unusual aspect of their request, and how immature their son is.
But, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already set in".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", Adam responded. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family told Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their younger child.
The plan: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the beginning here is kind of absorbed naturally," explained the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will pick up the UK customs they wish to instil.
Adam explained the tutor needed to be someone who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told him the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, alpine skiing, creative fields and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
Furthermore though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will result in achievement and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he adds.
However, in spite of all this instruction in "Britishness", would the child absorb so-called cultural influence from the globally influenced family he resides with in any case?
"Absolutely", answered the CEO. "They understand this might not succeed, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as early as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the private teaching field who express similar concerns.
An education leader, chief executive of a tutoring service, who supplies private tutors, commented that "the process of embracing two identities, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
He noted that he had moved from China to the United Kingdom at the time of seven, and had been raised understanding and practicing dual heritages. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The concept that one individual can serve as a representation of UK identity, a person who can possibly transfer the attributes of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, seems to me idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"Based on my background, employing a distinctly English tutor from infancy will not automatically create the goal they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the situations they aspire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, cultural identity can not be dictated from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, Britishness is something Adam believes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I believe the situation that the international society views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
