"A household residing in the northern part of London wants to find an extraordinary and skilled tutor to support their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily overlook the term "first-steps" as just an expression.
Yet, it may be the most significant part of this distinctive position posting, as it aims to find a teacher for a infant.
Hundreds of responses have now been sent in since the unnamed family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who must be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the listing has received interest across the news, with several questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their hunt, stated that notwithstanding early skepticism, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they recognized the atypical aspect of their request, and how immature their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already set in".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", he answered. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He stated the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family told Adam they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The plan: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the learning at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," said the CEO.
It's via this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to impart.
Adam explained the tutor must be someone who studied at "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator must be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told him the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a wide range of passions.
Furthermore though, he said the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to achievement and provide access.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, despite all this tutelage in "Britishness", would the child absorb so-called cultural influence from the multicultural family he lives with in any case?
"Certainly", answered he. "The parents realize this might not succeed, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and let's go as early as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the private teaching field who share similar reservations.
Peter Cui, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up understanding and living dual heritages. He continued to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a living vessel of English culture, a person who can possibly impart the attributes of a British gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, seems to me naive and impractical," he wrote.
"In my experience, having a quintessentially UK tutor from infancy will does not necessarily produce the goal they hope for.
"I never had such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to live several of the experiences they desire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, cultural identity should not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be instructed – and commercialized.
"In my view the reality that the world regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
