"A family located in the northern part of London wants to find an exceptional and experienced instructor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily skip the wording "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
Yet, it might be the crucial element of this unique job advert, as it aims to recruit a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have since been sent in since the unnamed family published their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the advert has gained interest in the media, with several questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their quest, stated that notwithstanding first scepticism, he considered the concept "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he said they recognized the atypical character of their request, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural influence had by then become established".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam replied. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He said the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told the consultant they did not want this pattern to repeat itself with their infant.
The plan: To engage a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the development at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," stated the expert.
It's through this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to instil.
Adam said the tutor needed to be somebody who studied at "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator must be the right kind of person, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told the expert the selected educator should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and musical activities so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Furthermore though, he said the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a range of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son develop into a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and provide access.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.
However, notwithstanding all this instruction in "English culture", might the child pick up so-called cultural leaning from the international family he is raised by regardless?
"Certainly", replied he. "The family realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who have those doubts.
An education leader, chief executive of an educational organization, who also offer personal educators, stated that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
He explained that he had moved from the Far East to the UK at the age of 7 years old, and had been raised knowing and embodying both cultures. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can act as a representation of Britishness, an individual who can in some way transplant the attributes of a British gentleman to a infant child, appears optimistic and unrealistic," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a quintessentially English tutor from early childhood will will not necessarily create the result they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been lucky enough to enjoy several of the opportunities they aspire for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, personal identity should not be forced from the outside; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the CEO thinks can be educated – and marketed.
"I think the reality that the global community regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
