"Parents located in North London is looking for an extraordinary and experienced educator to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might naturally overlook the term "first-steps" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it could be the crucial part of this unusual job advert, as it attempts to recruit a tutor for a one-year-old.
Many of responses have since been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who must be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the advert has attracted interest throughout the news, with numerous asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that in spite of initial skepticism, he viewed the concept "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unusual nature of their demand, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", Adam responded. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the elder child had absorbed "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family informed Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with RP, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the start here is kind of absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they want to cultivate.
The consultant explained the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to the expert the successful candidate should preferably also have familiarity of or passion in riding, skiing, creative fields and music so as to shape the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Additionally though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "UK sophisticate" will bring about achievement and open doors.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he notes.
However, despite all this instruction in "English culture", would the child absorb what is termed cultural influence from the globally influenced family he is raised by regardless?
"Certainly", said the CEO. "They know this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as early as we can', because the price of it is not a concern," he stated.
Impractical
There are some in the education sector who express these doubts.
An education leader, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who provides individual instructors, commented that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, forming one's identity, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
Peter wrote that he had emigrated from China to the UK at the period of childhood, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying both cultures. He progressed to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that an individual can act as a living vessel of UK identity, someone who can somehow transfer the qualities of a English gentleman onto a infant child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"In my experience, employing a distinctly English tutor from infancy will not necessarily achieve the outcome they hope for.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to experience numerous of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, cultural identity should not be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be taught – and sold.
"In my view the situation that the international society views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
