"Parents based in North London is looking for an remarkable and qualified instructor to assist their smallest child on his initial journey to turning into an English gentleman."
When reading this post, you might easily overlook the wording "first-steps" as mere an expression.
However, it could be the most important aspect of this distinctive position posting, as it seeks to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have now been sent in since the unnamed family posted their call for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the listing has attracted interest in the press, with several asking why?
Progressive Approach
The CEO, CEO and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their quest, said that in spite of initial skepticism, he considered the concept "far sighted", and "innovative".
When he met the family, he mentioned they appreciated the atypical 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 held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already taken hold".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "all-encompassing", he answered. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the elder child had adopted "very nuanced, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family informed him they wished to avoid the same situation to happen again with their infant.
The intention: To hire a English tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the education at the start here is rather absorbed naturally," stated the CEO.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are expecting the child will acquire the UK customs they aim to cultivate.
The consultant said the tutor needed to be someone who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Money No Object
The family informed the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have understanding of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a diverse set of hobbies.
More than that though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, assisting their son become a "UK sophisticate" will result in achievement and provide access.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he adds.
But, in spite of all this tutelage in "UK identity", would the child absorb alleged cultural leaning from the international family he is raised by regardless?
"Yes", answered the CEO. "The parents understand this might not succeed, but they've simply adopted the attitude of, 'we should try and we'll proceed as soon as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he stated.
Impractical
Several in the education sector who share those reservations.
Another CEO, head and founder of Blue Education, who supplies private tutors, commented that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
Peter noted that he had emigrated from Asia to the UK at the period of seven, and had been raised experiencing and living dual heritages. He continued to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The notion that a single person can function as a living vessel of UK identity, someone who can somehow impart the qualities of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he commented.
"From my perspective, engaging a distinctly British tutor from babyhood will not necessarily achieve the result they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a tutor, and however I have been privileged enough to live numerous of the situations they desire for their son."
He continued: "The reality is, personal identity should not be forced from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Of course, UK identity is something Adam hopes can be taught – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the global community holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
