"A family based in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and qualified instructor to support their smallest child on his initial journey to becoming an English gentleman."
When reading this advertisement, you might naturally skip the phrase "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the most significant part of this distinctive employment listing, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of submissions have already been received since the unidentified family advertised their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the post has received interest across the news, with several wondering why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their search, explained that despite early scepticism, he found the idea "visionary", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional character of their demand, and how immature their son is.
However, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", the expert replied. "The way you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the elder child had picked up "really subtle, unspoken signals" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family told the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To engage a British tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the outset here is rather acquired indirectly," said the expert.
It's via this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will adopt the UK customs they want to instil.
He noted the tutor had to be somebody who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
More than that though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's perspective, helping their son grow into a "English gentleman" will bring about success and provide access.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a class statement," he notes.
Yet, in spite of all this instruction in "UK identity", could the child pick up alleged cultural leaning from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Yes", replied Adam. "They understand this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as early as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the education sector who express those concerns.
Another CEO, chief executive of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the development of becoming bicultural, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
He wrote that he had moved from the Far East to the UK at the time of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and practicing dual heritages. He progressed to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that one individual can serve as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can possibly transfer the qualities of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"In my experience, engaging a quintessentially British tutor from babyhood will will not instantly achieve the result they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and yet I have been fortunate enough to experience several of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity can not be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, English culture is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the international society regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
