"A family based in the northern part of London wants to find an remarkable and qualified instructor to assist their most junior child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might readily skip the term "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it may be the crucial aspect of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to hire a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have already been sent in since the unnamed family posted their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the listing has received notice across the news, with numerous asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their quest, said that in spite of early skepticism, he found the plan "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he consulted the family, he said they understood the unusual character of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
However, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had by then taken hold".
What exactly did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", the expert responded. "The way you eat, how you speak".
He stated the firstborn had picked up "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural habits. The family informed the consultant they hoped to prevent this pattern to recur with their younger child.
The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"Much of the development at the beginning here is kind of osmotic," stated the CEO.
It's via this osmosis that the family are aiming the child will adopt the British traits they aim to instil.
Adam said the tutor had to be an individual who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor must be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to Adam the selected educator should ideally also have familiarity of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, skiing, artistic pursuits and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and picking up an musical instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will result in accomplishment and open doors.
"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he notes.
However, despite all this tutelage in "English culture", could the child adopt what is termed cultural influence from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?
"Yes", replied Adam. "The parents realize this might not succeed, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the education sector who express those concerns.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, stated that "the journey of becoming bicultural, or actually, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
He noted that he had emigrated from China to the Britain at the time of childhood, and had been brought up knowing and practicing two backgrounds. He went on to learn at Cambridge University.
"The concept that a single person can serve as a living vessel of UK identity, a person who can in some way transfer the characteristics of a English gentleman to a infant child, seems to me idealistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"From my perspective, employing a typically British tutor from early childhood will not necessarily create the outcome they want.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to enjoy several of the experiences they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity can not be forced from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Naturally, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"In my view the reality that the world regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
