"Parents residing in North London seeks an remarkable and skilled tutor to assist their most junior child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might readily overlook the term "first-steps" as just an expression.
However, it could be the most important aspect of this unusual job advert, as it aims to find a tutor for a infant.
Hundreds of submissions have now been sent in since the unnamed family published their search for the highly paid tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has received notice throughout the press, with many asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding initial scepticism, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he said they understood the unusual aspect of their demand, 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 postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already become established".
What precisely did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "comprehensive", the expert replied. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to him they did not want the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a English tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the learning at the outset here is somewhat acquired indirectly," explained Adam.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will adopt the English characteristics they want to impart.
Adam said the tutor must be someone who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to 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 Adam the selected educator should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, creative fields and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and provide access.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he adds.
But, despite all this tutelage in "UK identity", could the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by in any case?
"Certainly", said Adam. "They realize this may not work, but they've just taken the attitude of, 'we should try and let's go as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he explained.
Impractical
Several in the education sector who have similar doubts.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the process of becoming bicultural, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
He explained that he had relocated from the Far East to the Britain at the time of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and embodying two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The notion that an individual can serve as a representation of UK identity, a person who can in some way impart the characteristics of a UK sophisticate onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he wrote.
"In my experience, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from infancy will will not instantly create the outcome they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been lucky enough to experience many of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, personal identity should not be imposed from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, English culture is something the expert believes can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the fact that the international society views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
