"A household residing in the northern part of London wants to find an exceptional and qualified instructor to guide their youngest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might easily overlook the phrase "first-steps" as just figurative language.
However, it may be the crucial element of this distinctive employment listing, as it aims to recruit a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of responses have already been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their call for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the listing has received attention across the media, with several asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, chief executive of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their hunt, explained that despite first scepticism, he considered the idea "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional character of their request, and how early in age their son is.
However, they clarified 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 point "cultural influence had by then set in".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam responded. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He said the older sibling had absorbed "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family explained to him they did not want this pattern to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To hire a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is rather osmotic," explained Adam.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will adopt the UK customs they aim to impart.
He said the tutor needed to be an individual who attended "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator must be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed Adam the selected educator should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in riding, alpine skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a diverse set of interests.
Additionally though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a selection 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, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will result in success and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he comments.
However, notwithstanding all this instruction in "UK identity", could the child adopt alleged cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", answered Adam. "They understand this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as soon as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the private teaching field who express similar concerns.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He continued to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that an individual can function as a representation of UK identity, someone who can in some way impart the attributes of a British gentleman to a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"In my experience, having a quintessentially English tutor from infancy will will not instantly create the result they hope for.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to enjoy many of the opportunities they desire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, personal identity should not be forced from the outside; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the CEO thinks can be instructed – and sold.
"I think the reality that the global community views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
