"A household residing in north London seeks an extraordinary and qualified educator to support their most junior child on his early path to turning into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this listing, you might naturally overlook the term "first-steps" as mere an expression.
However, it could be the crucial aspect of this unique employment listing, as it seeks to find a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of submissions have since been received since the unnamed family published their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the advert has attracted interest throughout the media, with several wondering why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, chief executive of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding first scepticism, he viewed the plan "visionary", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he noted they appreciated the unusual character of their request, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already taken hold".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "How you eat, how you speak".
He stated the older sibling had absorbed "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family explained to the consultant they did not want the same situation to repeat itself with their younger child.
The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the beginning here is rather acquired indirectly," said the expert.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they wish to impart.
Adam noted the tutor needed to be somebody who went to "prestigious academies – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he added.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed the expert the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or passion in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and music so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
More than that though, he explained the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and starting an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son grow into a "UK sophisticate" will result in achievement and open doors.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he adds.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "UK identity", would the child adopt alleged cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with regardless?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "They realize this could fail, but they've just taken the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as soon as we can', because the expense of it is not a concern," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the tutoring industry who have those concerns.
An education leader, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies private tutors, wrote that "the process of embracing two identities, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
He explained that he had moved from the Far East to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been brought up knowing and embodying dual heritages. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that an individual can act as a representation of Britishness, an individual who can possibly transplant the attributes of a British gentleman onto a one-year-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he stated.
"Based on my background, having a quintessentially British tutor from early childhood will does not automatically achieve the result they hope for.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and however I have been privileged enough to live many of the experiences they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be dictated from the external environment; it must be embraced, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, UK identity is something the expert hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"I believe the situation that the global community holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
