"A household located in the northern part of London seeks an extraordinary and skilled tutor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might readily overlook the wording "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it might be the most important element of this distinctive job advert, as it attempts to recruit a tutor for a infant.
Many of responses have since been submitted since the unidentified family advertised their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received notice across the press, with numerous wondering why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that in spite of early doubt, he viewed the idea "visionary", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional nature of their demand, and how young their son is.
However, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already set in".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", Adam responded. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told Adam they did not want history to happen again with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a British tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to shape the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the development at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said the CEO.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will pick up the British traits they wish to impart.
He explained the tutor had to be somebody who attended "prestigious academies – 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 performing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told the expert the chosen tutor should preferably also have knowledge of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and music so as to influence the child in a diverse set of interests.
Additionally though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son become a "UK sophisticate" will result in success and create opportunities.
"Considering the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he adds.
But, in spite of all this instruction in "UK identity", might the child absorb what is termed cultural bias from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Yes", answered Adam. "The family know this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'let's give it a go and we should start as early as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the education sector who share similar doubts.
An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of seven, and had been educated understanding and practicing two backgrounds. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that a single person can serve as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can possibly transplant the attributes of a British gentleman to a one-year-old child, appears optimistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"From my perspective, engaging a distinctly English tutor from babyhood will does not automatically produce the result they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been lucky enough to live numerous of the experiences they hope for their son."
He continued: "The truth is, personal identity can not be forced from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, English culture is something Adam hopes can be taught – and commercialized.
"I think the situation that the international society holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
