"A household based in the northern part of London is looking for an remarkable and experienced instructor to support their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might easily miss the phrase "first-steps" as just an expression.
However, it might be the most significant part of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to recruit a mentor for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have since been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has gained attention in the news, with many questioning why?
Innovative Idea
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their hunt, said that despite first skepticism, he considered the plan "visionary", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they understood the unusual nature of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
But, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had by then set in".
But what does the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", Adam replied. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the firstborn had adopted "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they hoped to prevent history to happen again with their new baby.
The plan: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," stated the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to impart.
Adam noted the tutor had to be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Money No Object
The family informed Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in riding, skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Furthermore though, he said the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will result in accomplishment and provide access.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
But, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child pick up what is termed cultural influence from the globally influenced family he is raised by anyway?
"Absolutely", replied he. "They know this could fail, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Impractical
A number of in the tutoring industry who have those doubts.
An education leader, chief executive of a tutoring service, who supplies private tutors, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
The expert explained that he had emigrated from Asia to the Britain at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and living dual heritages. He continued to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The notion that a single person can act as a representation of UK identity, a person who can somehow transfer the qualities of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and unfeasible," he stated.
"Based on my background, having a distinctly British tutor from babyhood will does not necessarily produce the outcome they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and however I have been fortunate enough to live several of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, self-identity can not be forced from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Of course, English culture is something the CEO thinks can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the world holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
