"A household based in north London seeks an extraordinary and skilled educator to guide their youngest child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might readily overlook the term "first-steps" as just an expression.
Yet, it could be the most significant aspect of this distinctive job advert, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a infant.
Many of responses have since been submitted since the unidentified family published their request for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has received notice across the media, with many wondering why?
Progressive Approach
A tutoring expert, head and founder of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their quest, said that despite first skepticism, he found the concept "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they understood the unusual character of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had postponed until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had already become established".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the elder child had absorbed "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had assumed their cultural habits. The family explained to Adam they did not want the same situation to recur with their infant.
The plan: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"Much of the development at the beginning here is somewhat osmotic," stated the expert.
It's through this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will adopt the British traits they wish to cultivate.
The consultant explained the tutor must be someone who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator must be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Expense Not a Factor
The family told the expert the successful candidate should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in riding, alpine skiing, the arts and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
More than that though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will bring about success and open doors.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, despite all this instruction in "English culture", could the child absorb what is termed cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with anyway?
"Absolutely", said the CEO. "They understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as early as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he said.
Overly Optimistic
A number of in the tutoring industry who have these reservations.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who also offer personal educators, commented that "the development of embracing two identities, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not manufactured."
He noted that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the time of seven, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying two backgrounds. He went on to study at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can act as a living vessel of UK identity, a person who can in some way impart the qualities of a English gentleman upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as optimistic and impractical," he stated.
"Based on my background, engaging a quintessentially UK tutor from babyhood will does not automatically create the outcome they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy many of the situations they hope for their son."
He added: "The reality is, self-identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must be internally driven."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, UK identity is something the expert thinks can be taught – and commercialized.
"I believe the reality that the global community holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
