"A household located in North London seeks an exceptional and skilled instructor to assist their most junior child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might easily overlook the term "first-steps" as mere figurative language.
However, it may be the most important element of this distinctive position posting, as it attempts to hire a teacher for a infant.
Numerous of applications have now been submitted since the unnamed family published their request for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the listing has received interest in the press, with numerous wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their hunt, explained that notwithstanding early skepticism, he considered the idea "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he said they understood the unusual character of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He said the firstborn had picked up "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to the consultant they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their new baby.
The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who must speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the development at the outset here is kind of osmotic," explained the CEO.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they wish to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor must be somebody who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator must be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in riding, alpine skiing, the arts and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Additionally though, he stated the family desired the tutor to register the child on a range of courses so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and provide access.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
But, notwithstanding all this instruction in "Britishness", might the child pick up alleged cultural influence from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "The parents know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Impractical
There are some in the tutoring industry who have those doubts.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, commented that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the Britain at the period of childhood, and had been brought up knowing and embodying two backgrounds. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that one individual can act as a living vessel of English culture, someone who can somehow transfer the attributes of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, engaging a typically UK tutor from babyhood will will not instantly produce the outcome they hope for.
"I never had such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to enjoy several of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He added: "The fact is, personal identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, English culture is something Adam hopes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I think the situation that the international society regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
