"A family residing in North London seeks an extraordinary and skilled instructor to guide their smallest child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might easily skip the wording "first-steps" as just figurative language.
But, it might be the crucial part of this distinctive position posting, as it attempts to recruit a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of responses have now been sent in since the unnamed family advertised their search for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has received attention throughout the press, with numerous questioning why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their hunt, explained that despite initial skepticism, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unconventional nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural bias had by then set in".
But what does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "comprehensive", Adam responded. "The manner you eat, how you speak".
He stated the older sibling had picked up "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family explained to the consultant they wished to avoid this pattern to repeat itself with their infant.
The intention: To engage a British tutor, who needs to speak with RP, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Natural Absorption
"A lot of the development at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," explained the CEO.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they aim to impart.
He noted the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be performing things they may not realize they're doing, simply by nature," he added.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed him the chosen tutor should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in horse riding, alpine skiing, creative fields and music so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
More than that though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to enrol the child on a variety 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, assisting their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will result in achievement and provide access.
"For all the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, in spite of all this instruction in "English culture", would the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the multicultural family he is raised by regardless?
"Certainly", answered Adam. "The parents understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
A number of in the education sector who have similar doubts.
Another CEO, head and founder of an educational organization, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the development of becoming bicultural, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
The expert wrote that he had emigrated from China to the United Kingdom at the age of seven, and had been raised knowing and living two backgrounds. He progressed to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that an individual can function as a living vessel of English culture, someone who can in some way impart the attributes of a British gentleman to a 12-month-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"From my perspective, employing a typically British tutor from infancy will not automatically achieve the goal they want.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and however I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the situations they aspire for their son."
He added: "The reality is, self-identity should not be imposed from the outside influences; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, English culture is something Adam believes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the international society holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
