"A household residing in north London wants to find an exceptional and experienced educator to assist their smallest child on his early path to growing into an British gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily skip the phrase "first-steps" as mere figurative language.
Yet, it may be the most important part of this unusual position posting, as it seeks to find a mentor for a infant.
Numerous of responses have since been sent in since the anonymous family published their search for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the post has attracted notice across the news, with several questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their search, said that despite initial doubt, he found the idea "visionary", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he said they appreciated the unusual nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.
But, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had by then become established".
But what did the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", Adam replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family told Adam they did not want this pattern to repeat itself with their infant.
The strategy: To bring in a British tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to influence the baby from day one.
Subtle Influence
"A great deal of the education at the outset here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said the expert.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are aiming the child will pick up the British traits they wish to instil.
He explained the tutor needed to be an individual who attended "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family explained to Adam the successful candidate should ideally also have familiarity of or passion in riding, skiing, the arts and music so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
More than that though, he stated the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son become a "British gentleman" will bring about achievement and provide access.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
However, in spite of all this tutelage in "Britishness", might the child pick up so-called cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?
"Certainly", said 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 expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the tutoring industry who express those concerns.
An education leader, head and founder of an educational organization, who also offer personal educators, wrote that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or indeed, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
The expert explained that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the period of 7 years old, and had been raised knowing and practicing both cultures. He continued to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that a single person can act as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can possibly impart the qualities of a UK sophisticate upon a infant child, seems to me optimistic and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, employing a distinctly English tutor from infancy will will not automatically produce the result they want.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been lucky enough to experience several of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The reality is, cultural identity can not be forced from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be taught – and sold.
"I believe the situation that the world holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
