"Parents based in the northern part of London seeks an remarkable and skilled educator to guide their youngest child on his early path to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might easily overlook the term "first-steps" as simple a turn of phrase.
Yet, it could be the crucial part of this distinctive employment listing, as it attempts to find a mentor for a infant.
Hundreds of applications have already been sent in since the unnamed family advertised their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who has to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the listing has gained notice in the press, with numerous asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, CEO and founder of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding early skepticism, he found the plan "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he consulted the family, he noted they appreciated the unusual nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that point "cultural bias had by then taken hold".
What precisely does the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", Adam replied. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to him they did not want the same situation to repeat itself with their younger child.
The plan: To hire a UK tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the learning at the beginning here is kind of osmotic," said the expert.
It's via this subtle influence that the family are expecting the child will adopt the English characteristics they aim to impart.
Adam said the tutor must be someone who studied at "prestigious academies – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The instructor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family explained to him the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, creative fields and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of interests.
More than that though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "equestrian training and picking up an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son become a "English gentleman" will bring about accomplishment and open doors.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's definitely a social class indicator," he adds.
Yet, notwithstanding all this guidance in "English culture", would the child adopt what is termed cultural bias from the multicultural family he lives with regardless?
"Yes", said he. "The parents realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as early as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he stated.
Impractical
A number of in the tutoring industry who have those doubts.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
The expert wrote that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying both cultures. He continued to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that an individual can serve as a embodiment of Britishness, an individual who can possibly transplant the attributes of a UK sophisticate to a one-year-old child, strikes me as idealistic and impractical," he wrote.
"From my perspective, having a distinctly English tutor from early childhood will will not instantly produce the outcome they desire.
"I did not have such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to live many of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Naturally, English culture is something the CEO believes can be taught – and commercialized.
"In my view the fact that the global community views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
