"A household residing in north London seeks an exceptional and skilled educator to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this advertisement, you might easily overlook the term "first-steps" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it may be the most important part of this unusual job advert, as it attempts to recruit a teacher for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have now been submitted since the unidentified family published their request for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the post has received notice in the press, with numerous wondering why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, said that despite initial skepticism, he viewed the concept "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional character of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already become established".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", Adam answered. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they wished to avoid this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The plan: To hire a UK tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the education at the outset here is rather acquired indirectly," said Adam.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will acquire the UK customs they want to cultivate.
He explained the tutor must be somebody who went to "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
Furthermore though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a range of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he comments.
But, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", could the child pick up so-called cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he is raised by anyway?
"Yes", said Adam. "They know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the education sector who express those doubts.
Peter Cui, chief executive of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, commented that "the development of becoming bicultural, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
He noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the Britain at the period of 7 years old, and had been raised experiencing and living dual heritages. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that an individual can act as a embodiment of UK identity, someone who can in some way transfer the characteristics of a UK sophisticate upon a one-year-old child, appears optimistic and impractical," he wrote.
"In my experience, employing a distinctly British tutor from babyhood will not necessarily produce the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been privileged enough to enjoy many of the experiences they hope for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, self-identity should not be dictated from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, English culture is something Adam believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the world regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
