"A family based in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and experienced tutor to assist their youngest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily overlook the wording "first-steps" as simple figurative language.
But, it might be the crucial part of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a infant.
Many of applications have now been received since the unnamed family published their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the post has received interest throughout the media, with many questioning why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their quest, stated that despite initial skepticism, he considered the concept "visionary", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional nature of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then taken hold".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", the expert answered. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family explained to the consultant they wished to avoid history to recur with their infant.
The strategy: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is somewhat osmotic," said the CEO.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the British traits they wish to impart.
Adam said the tutor needed to be somebody who attended "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be performing things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told Adam the chosen tutor should preferably also have understanding of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and instrumental training so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a range of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son become a "English gentleman" will lead to success and open doors.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he notes.
However, despite all this instruction in "English culture", could the child adopt what is termed cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "The family realize this may not work, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as early as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he said.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who express similar doubts.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who also offer individual instructors, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
Peter explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the Britain at the period of seven, and had been brought up knowing and living both cultures. He progressed to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can function as a representation of Britishness, an individual who can somehow transplant the qualities of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and unrealistic," he wrote.
"In my experience, employing a distinctly British tutor from infancy will not automatically produce the goal they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and however I have been privileged enough to experience numerous of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity cannot be forced from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Of course, UK identity is something Adam thinks can be instructed – and marketed.
"In my view the fact that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
