"A household based in north London seeks an extraordinary and experienced instructor to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might easily skip the phrase "first-steps" as mere a turn of phrase.
Yet, it might be the most significant aspect of this unusual employment listing, as it attempts to recruit a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Many of applications have already been received since the unidentified family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who must be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the post has attracted attention throughout the media, with many wondering why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their quest, explained that in spite of early doubt, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional character of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural bias had by then taken hold".
What exactly did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", he responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He stated the older sibling had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family explained to Adam they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The intention: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is kind of absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to instil.
He said the tutor needed to be an individual who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Money No Object
The family explained to him the successful candidate should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in equestrian activities, winter sports, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of interests.
Additionally though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of lessons 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, assisting their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about accomplishment and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's certainly a social class indicator," he notes.
However, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "UK identity", might the child adopt so-called cultural influence from the globally influenced family he is raised by anyway?
"Yes", answered Adam. "The parents understand this might not succeed, but they've just taken the view of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who express these reservations.
An education leader, head and founder of Blue Education, who provides private tutors, stated that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, forming one's identity, is something that must be grown into, not designed."
He explained that he had emigrated from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the time of 7 years old, and had been educated understanding and practicing dual heritages. He continued to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that an individual can act as a living vessel of Britishness, an individual who can in some way transfer the qualities of a British gentleman upon a one-year-old child, seems to me optimistic and unrealistic," he commented.
"In my experience, employing a quintessentially UK tutor from infancy will not automatically achieve the result they hope for.
"I never had such a figure, and yet I have been fortunate enough to live numerous of the situations they hope for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, self-identity can not be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the expert believes can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the fact that the world views us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
