"A household located in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and experienced instructor to support their youngest child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might easily miss the wording "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
But, it could be the most important part of this unique employment listing, as it aims to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of responses have since been received since the unidentified family posted their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has gained notice in the media, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding first doubt, he viewed the concept "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he met the family, he said they appreciated the unconventional character of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had by then become established".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had taken on their cultural norms. The family told Adam they did not want the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The intention: To bring in a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the development at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," stated Adam.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they aim to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor needed to be somebody who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told Adam the successful candidate should preferably also have familiarity of or passion in equestrian activities, winter sports, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to enrol the child on a range of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "English gentleman" will result in achievement and provide access.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
However, despite all this guidance in "Britishness", would the child pick up so-called cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Certainly", replied the CEO. "They understand this might not succeed, but they've just taken the view of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as quickly as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the education sector who express similar reservations.
An education leader, CEO and founder of Blue Education, who provides personal educators, stated that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not engineered."
He wrote that he had moved from the Far East to the UK at the time of childhood, and had been educated understanding and practicing both cultures. He continued to study at Cambridge University.
"The idea that an individual can serve as a living vessel of English culture, someone who can possibly transfer the attributes of a English gentleman upon a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and unfeasible," he stated.
"From my perspective, employing a typically English tutor from early childhood will not instantly produce the outcome they want.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to live several of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, personal identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, Britishness is something the CEO believes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the international society holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
